Black Panther
by LoveToCreatexox
Summary: An AU where Logan, Patton, and Roman live together, however, what happened when they find out their new housemate has a curse that can only be lifted by true loves kiss?
1. Chapter 1

It had been a month since the new guy moved in.

Roman, Patton and Logan were all in their early 20's and living together in an apartment, they had a spare room and had agreed that it would benefit them financially to rent out the room to another. Of course these were Logan's words, Patton happily accepted, he loved meeting new people and more than happy for his little family to grow. Roman was less than pleased but was out voted, so he just agreed on the condition that he didn't have to 'play nice' to the new comer.

"Breakfast is nearly ready!" Patton's voice echoed throughout the house, Patton was used to being the parental figure for them all, he enjoyed cooking and cleaning, and being domestic was his quirk. To accompany this Patton worked at a kindergarten not far from the house, and to his surprised, Logan also worked there as well, as a librarian. The close living/working relationship between the two had quickly turned into something more, and now Logan was Patton's boyfriend. At work Logan would just sat and read from his own collection of advanced books, when not cleaning up after the kids, this always left him in a foul mood.

"Morning Pat" Roman yawned coming into the kitchen first, grabbing his favourite mug and pouring coffee into it, he then sat at the breakfast bar awaiting Patton's amazing cooking. Roman was an actor, rather successful too. He worked in theatre and had hundreds of beloved fans, not that he let this go to his head, though Logan and Patton would disagree with that.

Logan strolled in, dressed and ready for work, having woken up around the same time as Patton.

Leaving one occupant left.

"Patton… I am going to inquire yet again… did you or did you not get a animal secretly? You know we aren't allowed pets here" he asked sipping his coffee, raising his brow and sitting next to Roman. Patton gasped and pouted a bit "Why do you keep asking me this? I have already said, even though I'd love a pet, I haven't gone behind your back! I promise~ you believe me right Roman?" Patton asked.

Roman blinked and looked up from the magazine he was reading "Huh? What?" playing innocent with a slight smirk, obvious enough for Patton to see, making him huff and go back to cooking.

Roman chuckled "He's like a child when angry" he smirked before looking at Logan "Did you hear the growling again? I thought I was just dreaming but I may have heard it too, when the sun was coming up, right…?" he frowned a little before dramatically flipping his hair back with his forearm on his forehead "Wo was me~! I need my beauty sleep and some creature is prowling about is waking me up too early!" he stated dramatically but not being serious - well -

Logan rolled his eyes and grabbed a newspaper to read "Still… Maybe we should ask Virgil?" Logan spoke quietly, though loud enough for the others to hear. The growling could be heard in the early mornings and had been going on for almost a month. Patton finished off breakfast and started plated up.

Roman laughed spitefully "Ha! Ask Mr Doom and Gloom? Who never leaves his room except in the night, like a creeper? Doubtful…" he 'Tsk'ed before going back to reading his magazine. Patton wanted to tell Roman off for being so mean but he wasn't lying. Ever since they rented out the last room to Virgil last month, he was just stuck in there all day and only emerged at night time… They knew nothing about him; only seeing him before they all went to bed, he didn't talk much and they didn't even know if he had a night job or something.

Nonetheless, after breakfast Patton got ready for work as Logan waited for him at the door, seeing as they worked at the same place they had decided to walk to and from work together every day, plus one other reason - smirk -

Once Patton came downstairs he looked at Roman, who now lay on the sofa watching the Disney channel fully dressed in jeans and a red shirt. Knowing the actor had no work today Patton internally smirked "Hey Ro?"

"Yeah Pat?"

"I want you to visit Virgil today and make sure he isn't hiding a pet in his room" Patton told him, earning wide eyes and a horrified expression in return. "B-But! Why me?" is all roman could get out, not understanding why it was 'his' job!

Patton frowned and perched his fists on his hips "Because! You have no work today and we do! That's enough of a reason… Who knows, you might bond while we are gone~" Patton's frown turned into a playful smirk.

"Doubtful…" Roman grumbled under his breath, still not wanting to do it.

"Just do as he says Roman…" Logan walked in putting an arm around Patton's waist; Roman narrowed his eyes at Logan's intense stare before letting out a distasteful sigh "Fine whatever… If I have to…"

Patton then smiled, secretly making a mental note to reward Logan later for his assistance, they really were like a family, Patton wasn't just imagining it.

After the hypothetical parents left, Roman begrudgingly looked towards the stairs "well… Might as well get this over an done with… They never said I had to me nice while interrogating the boogie man" he smirked, getting up and making his way upstairs.

He walked over to Virgil's door, never really having paid attention to it before, it was a dark wood tone and had a 'Keep out' sign and multiple punk stickers. 'Distasteful' Roman thought with a grimace before just opening the door, not caring to knock. Roman's way of thinking was that, if he had knocked then that would give Virgil a chance to hide the animal if he had one, so to catch him in the act of harbouring an illegal pet he'd have to take him by surprise.

When opening the door it was pitch black, Virgil must have had black-out blinds or something, but what took him more by surprise was that there was no shouting or harsh words to tell Roman to leave… It was silent…

Roman frowned and flipped the light switch, glancing around Virgil's fairly tidy but dark coloured room. Everything was either; Black, Purple or Green… Walking in further Roman couldn't help but think 'Such an Emo'.

He walked over to the bed spotting a large lump underneath the 'nightmare before Christmas' quilt. Placing his hands on his hip and pursing his lips Roman spoke up "Yo Gloomy Goober! I know you're awake under there… Patton sent me up here to make sure you're not harbouring a pet… Logan heard growls… you're the last suspect left, so give it up" Roman spoke confidently to the lump under the bed.

Nothing - no movement or sound.

To this Roman sighed heavily, he took one more glance around the room, not finding any-

However, he suddenly saw large claw marks that had scratched down the wood of Virgil's wardrobe causing Roman's eyes to widen "W-What the-" he took a step closer to the wardrobe and grazed his fingers over the scratches, trying to determine if they are from human nails or claws. 'These marks are too thin and perfect to be human nails! Virgil must have an animal in here!' Roman deducted, looking over to the bed again with wide eyes 'b-but… what kind of animal can make claw marks this big… it's not a cat… maybe a large dog?' he tried to think 'and where is it, you can't hide something that large! Unless…' he walked over to the bed again.

"Virgil… If you're hiding a dog under those cover then I'll have no choice but to tell Patton" he spoke, his tone was a bit more threatening than he had intended but why should he care, if this kid was hiding an animal when he was told pets weren't allowed!

Roman was losing his patience "Alright fine! If that's how you wanna play it!" he growled and grabbed the covers pulling them off the bed in one hard motion.

Roman's eyes suddenly widened as far as they would go, his pupils dilating in fear, taking a step back, not wanting to make any sudden movement that could cost him his life.

In front of him, curled up on the bed was a large black panther, it's yellow eyes looking directly into Roman's, it's muzzle wrinkled up and baring it's fangs with a low throaty growl. Obviously not pleased about having being woken up.

After a moment Roman couldn't take it any more, his whole being was trembling, he suddenly took off, slamming Virgil's door shut behind him and pushing the large dresser in the upstairs hall up against the door. He then ran down stairs and onto the couch, frantically getting his phone and calling Patton.

"Hello? Patton here~"

"Roman? What's wrong? Calm down kiddo… Breathe"

"I don't understand what you're saying"

"W-What?!"

"Stay there! We are coming home right now!"

* * *

A/N: Chapter one :P hope you liked~ this is a two-parter I think, second part will be coming out soon, if not already out ^.^


	2. Chapter 2

Patton and Logan had just walked through the school gates when Paton got the phone call.

"Hello? Patton here~"

"Roman? What's wrong? Calm down kiddo… Breathe" At this point Logan was looking at Patton with a slight frown of concern.

"I don't understand what you're saying"

"W-What?!"

"Stay there! We are coming home right now!" Patton ended the call and was clearing panicking, internally stressing about what to do, to stay or go, what will he tell his boss?!

Logan walked over and placed a soft hand on Patton's back, rubbing circles to try and calm the other down "Hey, Patton, calm yourself, breath slowly, in through your nose, and out through your mouth, there, that's better" Logan spoke softly and slowly.

When Patton was more or less calm he looked at Logan with tears burning in his eyes "W-We have to get home, Roman rang and said there was a beast in Virgil's bedroom!" he whisper shouted so not to gather too much attention from co-workers.

Logan blinked and raised a brow "Roman called you… and said there is a beast in Virgil's bedroom…" his brain was close to flat-lining, Patton nodded his head frantically. Logan on the other hand, was very sceptical "Patton… why would there be a beast in Virgil's room… are you sure it wasn't just Roman being mean about Virgil again, insinuating that Virgil was a 'beast'" he asked, knowing how Roman always picked on the poor punkie kid.

Patton chewed on his lower lip to consider that idea before ended up shaking his head "If he'd texted me or spoke to me calmly then I would agree with you Lo… But… Roman sounded super scared… I think he was crying too" he told the other.

Logan took a deep breath and a moment to think before deciding to check it out. Both Logan and Patton had never missed a day of work, so one day off wouldn't bring much harm.

After talking to the principle, explaining there was an emergency at their house the principle let them take the day off to deal with it, claiming that they have time to call in cover. Of course, while Logan had explained the situation vaguely, the principle could see the panic in Patton's eyes and knew they weren't lying.

With that, they headed back home, only living 20 minutes away from the house.

Patton was the first to bust in "Roman!?" he called out. A small sniffle could be heard from the living room, the hypothetical parents found Roman uncharacteristically curled up on the sofa furthest away from the stairs, trembling and biting his thumb, his eyes still wide with silent tears pouring down them. Patton ran to sit next to him and gently pulled him in to a hug, which Roman accepted and quickly hugged him back.

Logan frowned. He'd never seen Roman like this… Could there really be a 'beast' in Virgil's bedroom? Patton looked up at Logan with worry in his eyes, silently having a mental conversation with his boyfriend, communicating with their eyes.

'I've got Roman… you check on Virgil'

'Okay'

Thus Logan turned to head upstairs, but before he could, Roman shouted for him to stop "No! Don't go up there! I-It's a monster!" he shouted through tears, in fear of that black creature "I-I don't want it to h-hurt more of my family" Roman sniffled and gripped Patton tightly.

Both Patton and Logan's eyes widened as they looked at each other before looking at Roman, Logan came over to the sofa and sat next to the dad of the family "Roman… What do you mean 'more of my family'?" Logan asked seriously "Where's Virgil?"

Roman flinched at that question, making tears start to appear on Patton's face "N-No…" Patton's voice hitched in the back of his throat as he held back a sob.

"I-I… I pulled back the covers and the creature was on the bed…" Roman tried to explain; "I-It had sharp fangs and yellow eyes that looked as if it was looking at prey…" he shivered remembering "I-I didn't see V-Virgil anywhere… b-but… I saw his clothes all torn on the floor-" he trailed off as he cried in to Patton's chest. Though he didn't like Virgil, he'd never wish him dead.

"Alright… If what you're saying is true, then we should get out of the house for a while and hire an animal rescue service to get rid of it" Logan, though sad at the possibility Virgil could be dead, he had to stay level headed. "Is it still in Virgil's room?"

Roman pulled back wiping his eyes a bit and sniffled "Y-Yeah… I ran out… shut the door and moved the dresser in front of the door…" he informed, earning a nod from Logan and a rub on the back from Patton. The latter had to stay strong, there was no proof of Virgil being dead, nor the creature really… but they had to get out, Roman may be an actor but he wasn't THIS good…

The day passed by, they had gone out for lunch, they'd tried Virgil's phone but got no reply… In the afternoon they called an animal service; that would arrive at their house at 6 pm tonight. To waste time until then they decided to try and take their minds off it, going to a crazy golf course and then out for dinner.

It was coming up to 6pm by the time they returned home, the animal rescue service consisted of a man and a woman, both prepared for any size animal.

"Hi there, we are here to remove an animal, am I correct?" the man spoke, directing his question to Logan. They all stood in the living room, Patton and Roman on the couch while Logan stood and nodded his head "Our roommate was the only one who saw it, but apparently it was large, black, with yellow eyes, and curled up on our other residents bed." The animal control team nodded their heads and geared up with medium tranquilisers.

They were then guided up to Virgil's bedroom, Logan in front, Patton and Roman behind. Upon seeing the dresser up against the door the man and woman frowned a little, nonetheless, they moved it out the way and told the others to stand back. The light still on in Virgil's room as it leaked under the door.

The man looked at the woman and counted down from 3, having his hand on the handle, the woman ready to shoot the tranquiliser.

3…

2…

1…

The door was swung open and the woman aimed her gun at the first thing that moved, but suddenly her gun was lowered quickly "No wait!" the man called out, seeing only a petrified 20 year old standing in his black ripped jeans, ripped purple shirt and black and purple patched jacket, with his hands up; the 'torn' clothes Roman had previously described.

Virgil's eyes were wider then the others had ever seen them, tears pricking in the corners from pure fright. He was just about to open his bedroom door when it had swung open by itself and suddenly there were people holding a gun up to him! Of course he was going to be scared, not to mention pissed off!

After the minute of silent shock, confusion took over. The man and woman took it upon themselves to check the room anyway just in case "What the FUCK are you doing in my room with a BLOODY gun!" Virgil growled loudly, but with deep gravelled undertone, his teeth bearing with unusually long canines. His eyes glared at the strangers in his bedroom, his eyes were a light brown, almost yellow, and had a predator's look in them. The animal control service quickly left the room after apologising, when they were just an inch outside the door Virgil slammed the door shut.

Logan, Roman and Patton were all stood there still in shock, though a little anger could be seen on Logan's face. The latter didn't waste time apologising to the animal service people and leading them out of the house and paying for their wasted time.

By the time Logan returned Patton was already lecturing Roman harshly, both sat on the sofa.

"B-But Pat! I'm not lying! I saw it!"

"Don't lie Roman! Did you see Virgil's face! Oh my god! I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to move out now!" Patton spoke, though he hoped his words weren't true.

"I… I don't… Understand…" Roman looked down, he was shivering, his emotions all over the place, he was scared, confused, sad, angry… He HAD seen a beast! Didn't he?... then he suddenly remembered! "Claw marks!"

Patton frowned a bit "What?"

"T-There are claw marks on Virgil's wardrobe door! T-That'll prove it right!" Roman spoke, Patton looked at Logan before they both sighed.

"That's enough Roman… Come on… We need to go and apologise to Virgil right now" Patton spoke before going up the stairs, followed by Logan, and then Roman trudging behind.

'Knock Knock'

Patton knocked on Virgil's door "V-Virgil? Hey… Kiddo? We're sorry for what happened… You have every right to be mad at us… But please, could you let us explain first?" Patton spoke through the door.

After a few moments the door opened, and Virgil stood leaning against it, no emotion or expression on his face as he looked at Patton, Logan and Roman, almost glaring at the latter. "I know what happened… I heard it all… you guys are really loud" he grumbled, almost lazily. His anger and killer aura completely diminished, for now.

Patton blinked "O-Oh…" his head hung a bit, not really knowing what to say now, this whole situation didn't make any sense to him… He was sure Roman wasn't lying but… there was no animal in sight…

Logan took over and stood next to Patton, he took a quick glance in Virgil's room from where he stood in the doorframe and saw the marks on the wardrobe Roman had spoke of "If I may inquire… How did your wardrobe come into possession of such marks? They appear to be claw marks from a large animal" he spoke.

This peaked Roman's interest, leaning his head in to see what he had noticed previously "See! I told you!" he spoke, pushing past Virgil and over to the wardrobe.

Virgil frowned a little at Roman just barging in, but he couldn't say anything against it as both Patton and Logan barged right on in after him "Oh yeah… Come right in…" Virgil spoke with a sarcastic tone before swinging his door closed lazily and went to sit on his bed against his headboard, glancing over to the three invaders, that are currently investigating the claw marks.

Virgil watched as the other discussed amongst themselves, he knew this day would come; he'd been able to hide it for a month but even so, if he were gunna live here with these people then they'd need to know… But… 'What if when they know, they throw me out?' he thought, a frown appearing on his face as he looked down at his hands. He remembered earlier today… Even though he'd just gotten woken up, he shouldn't have growled at Roman, the prince-like character didn't deserve to be scared shitless… He'd have to apologise later, but for now…

"Hey… Ummm… Kiddo?" Patton spoke up first and pointed at the claw marks "What made these?" all eyes were on Virgil, making him a little uncomfortable.

"I did…" he told them, Patton's eyes widened a little, Roman frowned and Logan raised a brow in confusion. "These marks were clearly not made by a human, Virgil" Logan spoke taking a step towards the bed, Virgil then shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head "Well duh" he spoke, looking at the three.

His response only confused the three more; Patton went over to the bed and sat on it, looking at Virgil's worried expression. Unlike Logan who wasn't good at reading people, Patton seemed to have a gift at it. "Virge? What happened? We are all very confused… Roman told us he saw a beast of some sort in here, an large animal but was too shocked to really see what it was in the dim lighting" Patton spoke.

Virgil sighed and just repeated himself, trying to give himself time to think of how to tell them the truth "those marks… I did it" To this Roman frowned and stormed over; grabbing the front of Virgil's jacket and pulling him close "YES! We heard you but how is that possible! And I wasn't just seeing things was I?! I saw a large, black beast with yellow eyes! So where is it!" Patton frowned and was just about to lecture Roman for being so hard on the youngest, when Virgil snapped.

"IT'S ME! I'M THE BIG, BLACK BEAST YOU SAW!" He shouted, in the same loud, gravelled growl he'd shouted at the animal control with. He pushed Roman with force, making him fall backwards onto the floor, while Virgil stood up towering over him, his shadow engulfing Romans horrified expression. Roman didn't believe his words at first but when he looked up as saw the anger in Virgil's brown/yellow eyes, his fanged teeth grinding together and the expression of a killer written all over his face, it reminded him of what he saw and felt earlier "O-Oh my god… I-It… It was you"

Romans words made Patton and Logan look at each other in confusion, purely lost at this point "How could it have been him unless you were lying to us" Logan asked. Virgil took a deep breath to calm himself and took a step away from Roman, Patton helping Roman to his feet before all eyes were on Virgil again.

He looked at them before looking at the claw marks "I…" he tried to start only to grit his teeth and squeeze his hands into fists, so tightly his knuckles were turning white. Patton dashed over and pulled Virgil into a tight embrace "It's alright, you can tell us anything, we will listen and accept, even though Roman can be a… pain at times, he had a heart, you'll see" Patton's voice was quiet and calming, and so only Virgil could hear him.

After a moment, Patton felt the boy's shoulders relaxing and he pulled back, Virgil looked up at them "I have a curse… I've had it since I was young… I am myself at night… but… during the day… I change… physically" he tells them "I turn into a Black Panther"

These words hung in the air for a bit, everyone trying to figure out how to take that information…

After more than five minutes had passed Virgil sighed, "Geez… I'll prove it to you in the morning, get up just before sunrise and go to the living room, okay?" they all nod silently. "Also…" Virgil pulls his sleeve over his hand "I'm in full control after the change… so… so don't be scared of me…" he spoke quietly but loud enough for the others to hear. Virgil's demeanour had gone from pure anger to a nervous child within mere minutes. "R-Roman… I'm sorry… I scared you… I was woken up when you pulled off the covers a-and… I… I forgot about the transformation… I'm a bit grumpy when woken up so… I got mad… I didn't mean to… I'm sorry" Virgil nibbled his lower lip, he really had felt bad about it. After seeing the horrified expression when Roman seen his 'day-form' he thought he wouldn't be able to stay much longer, but the jury is still out, depending on their reactions in the morning.

Patton took Logan's hand "Alright, we will be up and present for your change Virgil, for now we are going to bed, okay?" Patton smiled softly at him, Virgil nodded his head, though still looking at the floor. Patton wanted to give him another hug but Logan dragged him off to their room.

"Aren't you going to bed?" Virgil asked Roman quietly, not daring to look at the other. Roman stood, thinking about what happened today, what he thought he saw… a beast? No… He was just a big cat! Though they could kill a human, Virgil already said he was in full control… and this was a huge secret he'd divulged them… to top it all off he apologised to Roman for scaring him… Roman couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt hit him, remembering how he acted upon seeing the other… and shouting that he was a monster…

"R-Roman?" Virgil tried again but this time raising his head and looking at the other, Roman snapped out of his thoughts and sighed softly, silently stepping forward and pulling Virgil into a hug. The latter froze, tensing up, unsure of what the hell was going on "U-Uh… W-What are you…?"

"Just shut up and accept it… this is my apology for my reaction earlier… and calling you a beast and a monster… I didn't know it was you… I was scared… and that's not a thing I admit lightly… So consider yourself lucky" Roman grumbled. Virgil relaxed into the hug, listening to the kind words that were spoken to him, his eyes widening a bit and tears slowly leaving his eyes and running down his cheeks.

Roman pulled back when he heard a sniffle "What's wrong? I-I said I was sorry!" He freaked out a bit, unsure what to do, Patton would kill him if he found out that he'd made his strange, dark son cry!

Virgil chuckled lightly and sniffled, wiping his cheeks and looking at Roman "S-Sorry~ It's just… I've never had someone accept me… Especially after seeing my panther form… y-you're the first" he admitted, this somehow made Roman feel special.

"Really? But… If you say you're in control then why-"

"They don't care… they threw me out… everywhere I went… I couldn't hide… the transformation is painful… the growling always gets me found out… I knew I was close to being discovered here, when I heard Logan bring up about 'hearing it again'…"

To this Roman's eyes widened "You heard that all the way up here?!" he asked shocked, Virgil chuckled again with a sniffle "Y-Yeah, my hearing is rather good as a big cat" he smiled a little towards the one he'd nicknamed 'Princey'.

"Anyway… It's late… you need your beauty sleep" Virgil smirked a bit, having heard Roman this morning too, making Roman blush a bit and look away. "Uhh… Nah, I'll be good for one night, how about we watch a movie downstairs? I have a bunch of questions for you, so it may take a while" Roman smirked back, causing Virgil to laugh "Okay Princey" Virgil replied, causing Roman's eyes to widen a little, his first time upon hearing this nickname. He pursed his lips nodding his head in approval to that name.

The two made there way downstairs and agreed on a Disney movie, surprising Roman again when Virgil had confessed to liking Disney movies. The night went on and many questions were asked, Virgil happily answered all of them, while snacking on a plate of cooked pork bits. The pair had been sitting about 2 feet from each other at the beginning of the night, but now they were cuddled up together. Having watched another Disney movie, Virgil had fallen asleep, thus falling against Roman. The latter of course found it adorable and put his arm around Virgil's shoulders, as the hour went on Virgil had brought his legs up and was completely and perfectly snuggled up to Roman, his face in the crook of Roman's neck. Roman just watched the movie with a small smile on his face, resting his head on top of Virgil's.

"What on earth was I so scared of" Roman spoke softly, glancing down at the peaceful expression of Virgil's face as he slept gracefully "You're actually kinda cute" he admitted to himself hoping no one heard him before returning his gaze back to the TV.

One hour before sunrise.

* * *

A/N: Okkayyyyyy so maybe it will be more that just 2 chapters ^^; I got a little too into this haha still, hope you're enjoying it!


	3. Chapter 3

It was almost time, Virgil still remained asleep, curled up into Roman's side with the latters arm around him, gently rubbing his upper arm as his eyes continued to glance at the clock.

Patton and Roman had set an alarm for just before sunrise. "Roman?" Patton spoke quietly as he stepped into the living room hand in hand with Logan. Roman snapped his eyes away from the clock to see Patton's eyes glimmering at the adorable sight in front of him, Logan's eyebrow raised in a teasing manner.

"Shut up… He fell asleep and fell on to me so I just left it like that…" He defended himself quietly so not to wake Virgil, but his words meant little as the clear blush on his cheeks were evident to his lie of omission.

Patton smiled softly and sat on the other end of the sofa rubbing his sleepy eyes, Logan taking his arm chair "So… Will he really… Umm… Turn into a big cat?" Patton asked, though Roman claimed to have seen it already and the evidence was there, Patton had a hard time believing it, Logan was in a similar state of mind, all eyes on the sleeping Emo.

"Yeah… We spoke all night… He told me that it is painful to go through…" he spoke, sadness evident in his voice "He also told me that he's always been rejected after being discovered, so guys… I think we should try and be understanding… Prepare for it so you don't upset him with scared expressions" Roman told them hypocritically.

Patton and Logan exchanged glances before looking back at Roman, taking a mental note of this sudden affection Roman had for the kid… It was unusual, but they agreed nonetheless, they could tease him about his newfound affection later. "Of course Ro~ I already accept him as part of our family~ No matter what he looks like" Patton smiled; Logan simply nodded in agreement.

The clock struck 6.

Suddenly Virgil tensed up, so much so his body began to tremble and painful whimpers began to rise from his throat. Patton's eyes widened out of pure worry, Roman looked down at the boy, still holding an arm around him. That was until Virgil's eyes suddenly opened wide with a large gasp and practically jumped out of the others embrace.

He stumbled back, away from the sofa, panting heavily, his wide eyes looking at the three who were present as promised. The sight of Virgil hugging himself, trembling with uneven breaths put all three house members in a difficult situation, they eagerly wanted to help, but weren't sure if they even could.

To answer their questions, Virgil held his palm out and took another step back "D-Don't!... N-Not y-y…. YET! AH!" He flinched; closing his eyes firmly and hugging his torso so tightly you could see his fingers digging into the material, his knuckles turning white. "I-I…. I'll be f-fine… Ah!..."

The others watched in concern and slight horror at the sight before them, their housemate was in so much visible pain! Widening their eyes further, if possible, at the sight of the transformation beginning.

They could see Virgil's finger nails slowly turning into claws and a tail protruding from his lower back, he then, still clearly in pain, threw off his jacket, top and jeans. Leaving him in only his boxer shorts, evident scars all over his fair ski; the evidence of abuse Virgil had gone through made the others' faces pale considerably.

That familiar loud, throaty growl could be heard from within Virgil's chest, louder now as there was no wall separating them, his head suddenly flinched up, facing the three on the sofa, his eyes glowing bright yellow and his teeth large and sharp; his jaw clenched tightly out of pure pain.

When Virgil collapsed to his knees Roman gasped, instinctively moving to aid him, but was held back by Patton. The latter shaking of his head sadly, obviously wanting to go too, but continued doing as Virgil wished, knowing that if Virgil unintentionally hurt Roman, he would never forgive himself… Roman didn't like it but he remained on the sofa.

Virgil's tense body writhed on the floor, his black fur began to appear all over his body and the others cringed in horror as they could hear the cracking of Virgil's bones as he changed form… The painful sound echoed through the living room causing Patton to cry silently, Logan wrapped his arms around his weeping boyfriend but kept his eyes on the change. Roman to leant forward, biting his thumb harshly, his chest constricting, unable to imagine the pain Virgil was in right now.

The transformation felt like it had taken at least an hour, when in fact only 30 seconds had passed and they could see the sunlight peaking through the curtains. Heavily breathing could be heard from the large, black Panther; that now lay unconscious on the carpet in front of the TV.

"V-Virgil?" Roman spoke, his breath caught in his throat. He quickly glanced at Patton before getting up and dashing over to the unconscious form. The other two followed suit and crouched down around him. "The transformation must be too painful for his mind to handle… Thus, he loses consciousness to retain sanity…" Logan hypostasised, though also clearly worried, he was still human after all.

Patton bit his lip. Slowly extending his shaky hand out to touch Virgil's shoulder gently, his fur soft and shiny. Roman sat cross-legged by Virgil's head, keeping an eye on his breathing, he glanced at Patton's touch, allowing it- wait… 'Allowing it?!' Roman's eyes widened a bit at his own thoughts before moving his gaze back to Virgil's feline face, he didn't understand why, but he had a strong desire to protect Virgil now...

Mentally shaking the thought away for now, as he heard a low growl rumble up Virgil's throat, his yellow eyes blinking awake.

"Virgil? Hey there, are you okay?" Roman asked softly, not getting an answer back of course. Virgil moved his larger body so he could sit upright. His tail moved a bit, to curl around his front paws, he then let out a large yawn, jaws opening wide; showing his large canines, and his ears flattening during the yawn. Once he was finally waking up his rounded ears twitched, suddenly seeing at the three staring at him, momentarily forgetting he had an audience this time around.

As reality seeped in Virgil's eyes widened a little and instantly shuffled away from the prying eyes, backing himself up again the wall with a thud. His gaze taking in the expressions in front of him; Logan had sat on the floor, his eyes curious and slightly widened, Virgil could almost see the cogs turning in the bookworms head… Patton had also sat, cross-legged, hands on the floor in front of him, looking at Virgil with awe and fascination! Lastly was Roman, though Princey had seen his feline-self once before, this reaction was almost a 180 from the first time; he now wore a warm smile with soft understanding eyes. These very eyes calmed Virgil down a little.

After a moment of silence Virgil took a step forward, sitting upright and looking at the ground nervously, occasionally looking up at his housemates. His patience for their silence was wearing thin, he needed to know what they thought and if they wanted him out or not… Having a panic attack was not pleasant in this form… To remove the others from their own thoughts Virgil growled and looked at them with a clear expression of frustration and impatience.

"O-Oh! Sorry kiddo~ I just- you look so beautiful!" Patton gleamed, taking Virgil by surprise "Do… Do you mind if I touch you?" The dad of the family asked nervously, he didn't want to offend Virgil by touching without permission.

Virgil blinked before letting out a deep huff and nodding his head, Patton grinned widely and shuffled forward to sit next to Virgil, letting his hand stroke his fur from the tip of his head to his lower back; Virgil was astounded finding this very comforting. Roman was the next to speak up "That transformation looked incredibly painful… I wish there was something we could do to help you…" He looked down, feeling useless, seeing the transformation first hand almost broke his heart.

Virgil tilted his head before growling softly, a tone of understanding and comfort towards the first human to have ever accepted him for who he was.

Next was Logan, as expected he began to reel off question after question, to the point were Roman had to speak up "Logan… Virgil can't talk in this form", Logan looked at Roman then back to Virgil and hummed. "Perhaps you're right… I shall be sure to question you tonight then Virgil" Logan pushed up his glasses before standing up, Virgil rolling his eyes "As much as want to stay and try to understand this better, both Patton and I have work" He spoke, no emotion evident… Virgil began to worry about that.

Seeing Virgil hang his head a bit, Logan could logically guess what the other was concerned about "Virgil, I assure you am on the same hypothetical page as Patton, though not as emotionally charged, I do find your transformation fascinating, and would like you to remain a permanent resident of this household and family"

To these words Virgil perked up, Patton still stroking his fur making a low purr echo from his chest. Patton gasped happily "Awww!~ Virgil you're purring!" he squealed getting over excited, and though you couldn't see Virgil's skin he turned his head away flustered, he was unable to control his feline instincts. "He has the enhanced hearing of a panther in human form, so technically some feline traits must stick around" Roman hummed in thought before smirking "I wonder if he purrs as a human too?" he added, both teasing Virgil and actually curious as he tapped his chin.

In response to this, Virgil growled towards Roman before crouching down, and shuffling his shoulders, his ear's flattening, and an evident fanged smirk on his face. He was getting ready to pounce, Roman was the target, and the latter knew it. Patton stood and giggled next to Logan as Romans eyes widened; he quickly shuffled to get up "N-No… Virgil… Don't even think about it…" he warned.

Roman wasn't quick enough though, Virgil's powerful legs pounced him over the coffee table as Roman tried to run away and pushed Roman onto his back, on ground with an 'oof'.

Virgil's large, soft paws pinned Romans shoulders to the ground as he sat on the latters thighs, completely pinning the Princely character to the carpet "Patton! Logan! Help me!" he called out dramatically, the whole situation not serious but playful. Patton was in tears of laughter and even Logan cracked a smile with a small chuckle, this sight was simply endearing and they all knew Virgil would be an amazing addition to their family.

Virgil looked down at the struggling Roman beneath him and let out a grumbled chuckled, the best laugh he could produce in this form. He was finally accepted into a family! And they weren't even the slightest bit afraid of him in this form, all his worrying and panic was for nothing, and he was glad.

Except… He wanted to be human… This craving to break the curse, even when accepted, was strong… He never thought he'd find anyone to accept him, let alone love him… He'd given up all hope.

That is, until now.

There was finally hope towards breaking the curse, but it still may be a while, who knows, Logan is a smart fellow, perhaps he can find a way to smoothen the transformation in the meanwhile?

Virgil, lost in thought, hadn't realised Patton and Logan had left to get ready for work, leaving an 'unconscious-looking' Roman beneath him… WAIT!

Virgil looked down at Roman who was laying still, eyes closed, and not making a sound. Virgil began to panic and jumped off of him, lowering his head as his ears flatten to the back of his head in concern. Roman was still not moving! Even after Virgil had removed himself, he began to whimper and whine in his panther form, the whines slightly gravelled. His nose nudged at Romans shoulder, but to no avail, Roman still hadn't flinched. The whimpers continued as Virgil nudged Romans cheek with his nose multiple times, looking at his new friend with extreme concern and guilt.

But then, Virgil's ears perked up as he heard a snicker from Roman's mouth, Virgil backed his head up, looking down at the other as Roman peaked one eye open and then the next, a smirk curling on his lips before laugher broke out. This took Virgil by surprise at first, taking a step back but soon realised that Roman had been faking it, something you do to tease dogs and Virgil fell for it…

A growl erupted from his throat as he frowned, wrinkling up his muzzle in an attempt to tell the laughing Roman off, but it did nothing but make him laugh more. With a heavy huff Virgil turned around, smacking Roman in the face with his tail before pouncing in the couch. He was so large, he took up the whole sofa, laying down and resting his chin on his front paws, looking anywhere but Roman.

"Aww~ Virgil~ Come on! It was just a little- Ow! Hey! Don't hit me with your tail!" Roman pouted rubbing his cheek before standing up and brushing himself off with his hands. He then looked at the large Panther on the sofa, a small smile creeping on his lips "You were really worried you'd hurt me huh?" Roman spoke, but got no reaction from Virgil.

Roman then perched his posterior on the armrest of the sofa, by the tail end of Virgil, really taking a detailed look at Virgil's form this time. He must have been around 2 metres long, strong, toned muscles were evident from the shine of his black fur. His tail was about half the length of his body and thick in width, his whiskers white and eye's a stunning golden yellow. The pads of his paws were a mixture of black and dark pink, his claws couldn't be seen but he was sure they'd be just as sharp as his white fangs.

Virgil glanced at Roman finally, seeing the other taking in his daytime appearance. Though he blushed it wasn't apparent; he'd never had an issue with communication before, as no one wanted to know him like this… but it was now slightly frustrating that he couldn't talk.

Roman blinked at the slight frown on Virgil's feline face "What's up padre?" he asked with a tilt of his head. Virgil let out a huff before letting his eye scan the room searching for some device to communicate with. Roman followed Virgil's gaze, it took a moment but he soon figured out what Virgil was looking for "Ah! I see, I suppose it could be a little frustrating to not be able to talk…"

'Understatement' Virgil thought

Patton and Logan returned, fully dressed and ready for work "Hey there, Virge!" Patton smiled. Virgil looked at him before sighing and putting a large paw over his face, causing Patton to frown a little in concern, his gaze shooting to Roman "What's wrong?" he asked.

Roman sighed, "Kitty Reaper here can't talk… I guess being around people in this form is a first for him… therefore never had the need to look for a way to communicate"

Logan hummed "I understand your dilemma…" he spoke rubbing his chin in thought; Patton chewed his lower lip in thought too. Roman glanced at Virgil, also in thought, looking around the room. "He couldn't use a laptop as his paws were too large" Roman regrettably noted.

"Writing on a whiteboard using his mouth seems plain tedious too…" Patton added, pouting as he quickly shot down his own idea. "Maybe letter flashcards? No… that would take too long… And I doubt Virgil would find any ease in manoeuvring them with his paws…" All three were trying to brainstorm, but were failing miserably.

Patton sighed and looked at the time "I'm sorry we aren't much help… but we have to go to work now" he spoke, the tone of his voice clearly upset as he just wanted to take another day off and enjoy brainstorming with his family. Logan nodded his head in agreement "Yes, I regret we must go… Roman be sure to look after Virgil while we are out, there is meat in the freezer you can cook up for Virgil as I doubt he's eaten in a long time" the mention of food, more accurately meat, made Virgil's ears twitch and his head popped up to look at them, the tip of his tail wagging a bit happily.

Roman chuckled at Virgil's reaction to the mention of food, nodding his head "Don't worry, we will be fine for the day, I'll text you if anything happened but I doubt it will" he grinned confidently. Logan took Patton's hand "all right then, in that case we will take our leave, I will do some research during my free time to try and find a way for Virgil communicate in this form" Patton agreed to do the same before departing.

Leaving Roman and Virgil alone once more.

* * *

A/N: Soooo! I'm having trouble thinking of a way Virgil could communicate in his feline form . If you guys have any good ideas then let me know in the comments! I'd greatly appreciate it ^.^

Thank you all for your support so far! This was only meant to be a two-shot, but your kind words has lead me to put in more detail and take the story with more passion!~ 3


	4. Chapter 4

A week had passed since Virgil's first transformation display. He no longer had to hide away in his room when in Panther form, and spent most of the time on the couch with the TV on while the others were at work.

Roman and himself had become a little closer; he could see that Princey was trying to make up for the past, even though Virgil had forgiven him. Yet he still made an effort to make Virgil feel as comfortable as possible, even if he did like to tease and annoy him.

Patton had made meat dishes a lot after finding out that Virgil was practically a carnivore, and Logan had spent a lot of time researching way's for Virgil to be able to communicate when in panther form.

When Logan had returned from work that day, he suggested that Virgil use Morse code to communicate with the others. However, Virgil, nor Roman or Patton, knew Morse code, and even after spending 3 day's trying to teach it to them Roman lost interest and Virgil had started getting frustrated.

Thus the new system was born; Logan, with a joint effort of Patton, bought a large corkboard and placed it on the floor leant up against the wall. On this board were the letters of the alphabet on large 5x5" notepads, and lining the top were the common essentials 'Hungry', 'Thirsty', 'Entertainment', 'W/C' & 'Air'. {A/N: Here is a link to an example of the board I made if you wanna see it: image/180897945473 }

Today was the day the board would be introduced. It was a Friday night, and Patton had just finished sticking the pieces of paper to the board in his room, with the help and guidance of Logan.

Roman and Virgil sat on the sofa in the living room, Virgil now in human form on his phone, while Roman was humming along to 'Tale as old as time'.

"Did you really have to watch beauty and the beast…" Virgil spoke, clearly not amused. Roman could only blink, not connecting the dots "What do you mean? It's a great Disney movie! It's even got 'dark undertones' as you like to commonly point out" he said with a huff.

Virgil raised a brow 'does Princey really not see the uncomfortable similarities?' he thought before pulling his hood over his head and tugging on his sleeves to cover his hands more. Roman had taken note that this was a nervous tick Virgil had when he wanted to share something he found uncomfortable to talk about.

"Virge?" Roman spoke after a minute of silence. Virgil sighed, "Well… think about it… a dark, selfish guy is cursed to turn into a b-beast…" Virgil had difficulty getting out the last word, but as soon as he did Roman's eye's widened; finally connecting the dots. Virgil just curled in on himself more "And… The only way to break the curse is by… t-true… true loves…k-kiss-…" He trailed off at the end, almost to complete silent but Roman knew all too well how curses were broken in Disney movies, however, for Virgil to use that as a comparison too took him by surprise.

"Firstly… You're not a beast, nor are you selfish" Roman said crossing his arms over his chest in a lecturing manner. Virgil glanced at him only to look away again, his hood hiding most of his face.

"Secondly… Are you telling me that your curse… can be broken by true loves kiss?" Roman asked, disbelief evident in his voice, but also amazed, having never heard of this before or even considered Virgil's curse, or as Logan put it 'evolutionary anomaly', being able to be broken.

Virgil chewed on his lower lip silently before nodding his head, Roman gasped and stood "Oh my god! I am literally in a Disney movie right now!" He gleamed, making Virgil look up at him with a slightly amused, yet confused expression. "Fear not my precious damsel! Your prince will save you!~" Roman smirked looking down at Virgil's blushing face, the latters eyes widening as he got up and backed away with his hands up "N-No… Roman… That… That's not how it works-"

Roman that took a large stride forward, taking a hold of Virgil's upper arms. Virgil's eyes widening further, his cheeks burnt red, and his Adams-apple visibly moved as he swallowed heavily.

Roman appeared momentarily confidant as he looked down at Virgil's expression, he was only playing the part of prince for fun, he enjoyed teasing Virgil but… When he looked into the others chocolate brown eyes and their bodies were mere centimetres from each other Romans heart rate suddenly began to increases.

Suddenly the confident expression fell as Romans cheeks also began to blush a pink shade, opening his mouth to speak but his word choked, stuck in his throat. They both stood there, wide eyes looking at each other, hearts beating fast and palms becoming sweaty. Unconsciously the two leaned closer to one another slowly, their eyelids closing and lips only millimetres apart.

"Roman! What are you doing to my strange dark son!"

Patton's voice broke the silent tension in the air from the stairs, both gasping in unison and in an instant they had separated 5 feet, Virgil's head hung, his hood and fringe hiding his bright red face, also having brought his sleeves up to cover his mouth.

Roman looked at Patton with wide eyes, his face also bright red and shaking a little from the adrenaline running through his veins "N-Nothing!" Roman defended.

'I… I nearly kissed… oh my god… and he leaned in too… what… but why… does he?-… or was it just a spare of the moment thing?' Romans mind was reeling as he glanced at the folding up Virgil who had now made his way onto the sofa.

Patton blinked seeing the awkward scene in front of him. He had just heard Virgil telling Roman 'No' and came down to see what was going on, to then see Roman grabbing Virgil, of course Patton thought that he was teasing his son again, but from the looks on both their faces he had been wrong.

Patton wasn't stupid or as innocent as he seemed, he rubbed the back of his neck when he realised he'd just interrupted an intimate moment "A-Ah… Sorry kiddos…" he apologised. "Patton, your assistance if you would…" Logan's voice echoed from the top of the stairs having the large board in his hands.

The moment was over, Virgil still stayed curled up on the sofa, having an internal panic attack, ignoring his surrounding for the moment while he just tried to process what just happened.

Roman calmed himself and let Virgil be for the moment whilst stepping towards the stairs hearing Logan, Patton gasped and dashed up the stair "Right! Sorry!" he squeaked and helped Logan carry the board downstairs.

Roman moved out the way and rose his brows at the board "Oh wow, you finished it then?" he chuckled as they placed it up against the only blank wall in the living room.

Patton nodded his head and Logan pushed up his glasses "Yes, we think this will be an idea way to communicate with Virgil during the day" he spoke glancing at the boy who was still having an internal freak out.

Roman bought more time for Virgil to settle as he walked to the board and hummed "I was kind of expecting it to be all decorated since it was Patton helping you out, Logan" he chuckled. Logan simple sighed, "Yes… Well…" He glanced at Patton who in turn giggled awkwardly. "He attempted to do so, however, there was no space available for the actual notes" Logan rolled his eyes.

Roman could only laugh, expecting that much from Patton. He nodded his head before looking at the words at the top of the board "Hungry, Thirsty, Entertainment, W/C… and … Air?" Roman raised a brow clearly confused.

Logan nodded his head before giving an explanation "Upon the frustration of having to spell everything out, Patton and I agreed that we should give Virgil the main needs in words, this way less effort is needed, thus a more comfortable communication" he spoke "Food, Water and Entertainment are basics, as for the water closet… We weren't sure where or… how… Virgil…" he trailed off clearing his throat "Anyway, he may need help if the situation calls for it, like opening a door, or such, so this one is still necessary" he then moved on to the final one. "Air can be split into two meanings, perhaps Virgil wants to go outside, though unadvised, he is not a prisoner here and may do as he wishes, as long as he is careful. The other meaning is if he happens to be having a panic attack, air is what he lacks during those times, so if and when he points to this one we must assist him" Logan finalised.

Roman nodded in understanding, glancing over at Virgil who seemed to have calmed down and was looking at the board, listening to them discuss it. Patton spoke up "Virgil? You mentioned before that if you have a panic attack in panther form then it is much worse… so umm… could you tell us how to help you so we can be prepared?" Patton asked nervously, taking a seat next to the uncurling purple boy.

Virgil smiled softly at Logan, offering a silent 'thank you' to him, in return Logan nodded his head and took a seat on his armchair. Virgil then lowered his hood and looked at Patton "U-Umm… well the breathing exercises work sometimes" he informed before chewing his lower lip and putting his hands in his pockets "A-Also…" he trailed off.

Patton tilted his head "Also?"

Virgil looked down before clearing his throat "S-Stroking my… my f-fur…" he stuttered quietly, embarrassed, but was mildly surprised to not hear any teasing. Patton smiled and patted Virgil's back "Okay~ we can do that~ I also hope this board will help you communicate with us Virge" Patton began beaming again making Virgil smile sheepishly.

"It will, Thank you Patton, thank you all of you… I-I…" Everyone's eyes were on Virgil when they heard a small sniffle.

"Virgil?" Roman leaned forward from his place on the sofa to look at him, sat on the other side of Patton, his expression worried like the rest of them.

Virgil chuckled softly and lifted his tear filled face, surprising the rest of them. His cheek glistened with tears, his eyes half-moons and a genuine smile on his lips, the most they'd ever seen Virgil smile. It melted their hearts, even Logan's.

"I-I just, I'm so happy, and it's all thanks to you guys" Virgil explained, lifting his sleeve to wipe the tears from his cheeks, and with an 'oof' Virgil was assaulted with a large, tight hug from Patton; who now had tears of his own.

"Of course! You're part of our family Virgil~" Patton exclaimed, Virgil laughed softly, his eyes panning to the other two, who were smiling at him with a warmth he'd never felt before meeting these guys.

Not to mention the strange, new and slightly scary feelings he had when he looked at Roman. The moment they had shared began to resurface in his memory, making him hide his face in Patton's shoulder, to hide the blush.

Maybe… Maybe Roman was the beauty to his beast…

Not that he'd ever admit that out loud!


	5. Chapter 5

The guys had decided to call it a night at 10 pm; after introducing the board they made plans for their first weekend together. In the past the 3 of them would go out and get to know one another better, but Virgil always remained in his room. Now however, the secret was out and fully accepted, and they had invited Virgil to a family day, watching movies with snacks and drink, and then in the evening they decided to celebrate by going to the bars.

At first Virgil wasn't so sure, he'd never really drank alcohol, nor was he good in crowded spaces, but after both Patton and Roman's reassurance that they'd look after him, Virgil reluctantly accepted; knowing he wouldn't win against Patton's puppy-dog eyes.

As usual, 6am came about, Roman already inside Virgil's room as the other painfully transformed. Virgil had discovered that with Roman there to give calming words of encouragement and hold him through the transformation, it made it less painful, not completely, but enough to keep him conscious through the entire change.

All four were sat at the table by 8am, Patton having made a full English breakfast for them all and a bowl of bacon and sausages for Virgil. Virgil, of course, was too large for a chair, but was tall enough to sit up on the floor and still eat from his bowl happily, the tip of his tail wagging a bit.

"So! What film are we going to watch first?~" Patton asked excitedly, he was defiantly a morning person. Unlike Logan, who currently had Virgil's usual appearance; with the bags under his eyes, no glasses and current messy hair "Patton… Not so loud…" he groaned and took a long swig of his black coffee. Patton took Logan's hand in his and pouted apologetically "I'm sorry, Lo" he said before kissing the others cheek. That is all it took for Logan to nod and Patton be forgiven.

Both Virgil and Roman found this entertaining, the fact that Logan is so strict and emotionless most of the time, but all it took was a kiss from Patton to break him completely.

"How about a Pixar movie?" Roman suggested, Patton gasped and nodded his head. Virgil finished off his breakfast and licked his feline lips before growling a little to get everyone's attention. When he had it, he moved over to his communication board, using it for first time. He looked over the letters and began pawing out a title request.

W – A – L – L – E

Roman spoke the letters out loud before becoming mildly surprised "Wow, storm cloud over here likes Wall-E? Who would have guessed" he laughed, earning a growl from Virgil, he then continued his communicational pawing, aiming it at Roman.

F – U

To this Roman gasped, expressing his offence dramatically "H-How dare you!" he then stood up "You'll pay for that!" he then began chasing Virgil around the sofa, Virgil's eyes widened a bit but smirked as he easily out-ran Princey.

Patton laughed as he watched this display. Logan on the other hand just groaned, "It's too early for this…"

The day went by cheerfully, watching movies, snacking on junk food – meat bites for Virgil -, and endless banter. Virgil, being a large feline, refused take the entire sofa, he felt bad if Patton and Roman had to sit on the floor. Nonetheless, Patton was able to figure out a system; Logan sat on his armchair and Patton cuddled up close on his lap with Logan's arms wrapped around him. Though Logan would never admit it, he didn't mind sharing a seat with his boyfriend and cuddling, as Patton was rather light and comfortable to hold.

Meanwhile, Virgil had jumped up onto the sofa, as instructed by Patton, but instead of stretching out and hogging the entire couch, he curled his tail-end up a bit to give Roman room to sit next to Virgil's head. Silently, after a few hours of movie watching, Virgil's head ended up resting on Roman's lap.

By the end of the evening Virgil was exhausted and had decided to take a nap. His head still rested on Roman's lap, and the latter stroking his head unconsciously, easily sending him off to sleep. With Roman engrossed with the current movie and Virgil asleep, Patton poked Logan's chest gently and silently, before discreetly telling Logan to look at the couple on the sofa. "Look at them Lo~" Patton whispered, a huge excited grin on his face, his heart almost couldn't take the adorable picture in front of him- wait… picture!

Logan was way ahead of, with a muffled giggle as Patton hid his face in Logan's chest, the latter slyly brought out his phone and snapped a sneaky picture of the two on the sofa, a small smirk curling up on his lips.

6pm came about and the final movie was just about to finish. The three hadn't even noticed the time but the whimpers they suddenly heard made all heads turn to Virgil.

Patton and Logan had only witnessed the transformation once, and that was from a human to a panther, they hadn't seen it the other way around… Nonetheless, their faces fell, seeing the other in pain, yet still asleep.

Roman looked at Patton and Logan, his expression less worried as he'd seen this many times, he continued to stroke Virgil's head to try and comfort him. Roman also grabbed the red blanket from the back of the couch and pulled it over Virgil's sleeping form. They'd ended up leaving it there for Virgil's transformations; as unfortunately, his clothes did not transform with him, so he had always ended up naked.

However, this time around Roman frowned a bit. Virgil, throughout the entire transformation back to human, didn't regain consciousness… Roman didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, on the one hand, he may not have been in too much pain to wake up, but on the other hand, what if it was much worse that his brain wouldn't allow it?

Virgil's form shrunk, hiding under the red throw over, only his head on Romans lap could be seen. His fringe over his eyes, his lips parted a little and skin pale as ever. Roman looked at the two on the armchair, sharing glances of concern "Does Virgil usually sleep through a transformation?" Logan asked, Roman shook his head in return "No… This is the first time"

The Princely character looked down at Virgil's sleeping face and gently brushed his fringe out of his eyes, stroking his cheek unconsciously "Virge? … Virgil?" Roman called out, shaking his legs gently in an attempt to wake the other up.

After a tense moment Roman's concern faded, letting out a sigh of relief as Virgil's eyes opened lazily accompanied by a throaty growl.

To this everyone's eyes widened a bit "Ummm…" Roman shocked but also rather amused; he knew Virgil's feline instincts leaked into his human form, especially when he was sleepy.

"Virgil, are you feeling alright?" Patton spoke up.

Virgil blinked, feeling smaller and a blanket over him, he then turned his head to see the couple on the armchair, all gazed carried concern.

It took a moment before Virgil sat up quickly, wrapping the blanket around himself, his legs pulled up to his chest and his eyes wide "D-Did I-… When did I-… What… How…" He began to panic, he'd never transformed in his sleep before, he may lose consciousness during the change but he was always aware that he had changed.

Virgil's breath began to increase, there was no danger, nor negative emotions, but the pure shock of falling asleep panther and waking up human made his head spin.

Patton moved off of Logan's lap; to the latters dismay, and moved to sit next to Virgil. The boy was trebling and holding the red blanket tightly, Patton could hear his breathing becoming uneven and short, he gently placed a hand on Virgil's back rubbing soothing circles "Shhh, Virge, it's okay, you're okay, breath in, that it, 1, 2, 3, 4, okay good, hold it, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, good, now let it out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, there~ and again" Patton repeated this 3 more times, his voice gentle and soothing.

Virgil managed to calm down. Patton smiled softly, happy to help his friend anytime "Okay, I'll go and get dinner on, will you be alright Virgil?" to this he just responded with a small nod, looking down to the ground.

Patton got up and headed to the kitchen. Logan, not wanting to be a third wheel stood also "I will assist you Patton"

Once it was just Roman and Virgil a tense silence filled the air, for several minutes…

"U-Uh… Virge?" Roman finally spoke up, seeing the other physically flinch as his voice. Roman bit his lip a little "It's okay, you transformed while you slept, I covered you up before anyone could… uhhh… see…" he informed, trailing off a tad.

Virgil looked at Roman finally and smiled wearily, "Thank you" his voice was small but enough for the Prince. Virgil chewed on his lower lip 'at least they didn't see me naked… again… ish…. Whatever… I guess it's becoming less painful… but why?' Virgil thought to himself.

However his thoughts were interrupted "Virgil! Hey! You want steak or chicken?!" Patton called from the kitchen. Virgil pursed his lips in thought before looking at Roman "Hey Princey?"

"Yeah Virge?"

"Can you tell Pat I would like chicken please, while I go take a shower?"

Roman smiled and nodded his head "Sure thing~"

Dinner was on the go, Virgil had his shower before joining everyone at the dinner table, the tension and moment gone, and they were all back to their cheery old selves, getting pumped up for tonight.

Little did they know the horror of the evening to come.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: WARNING: This chapter contains Alcohol abuse, drugging, non-con and bad language. Spoilers, I know but I have to give you the warning.

It was time.

Patton stood by the front door in pale jeans, and blue button-up shirt with flowered stitching on the lower left-hand side, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He wore contact lenses and a little bit of black eye make-up, with Virgil's help of course. Logan stood next to him in a black button up shirt that was tucked into his blue skinny jeans and on his feet were black dress shoes. He still wore his glasses, as he'd always had trouble with contact lenses, but his hair was spiked up a bit more and he wore black earrings to match his shirt. Logan couldn't help but stare at Patton, his first time seeing the latter with makeup on, and he looked stunning!

Roman stood leaning against the wall, waiting for Virgil to come downstairs, he wore a red button-up shirt, his sleeves rolled up similar to Patton, but he also wore a dark grey waist coat over the top that remained undone. He also wore black skinny jeans and red converses with a yellow crown printed on the outer sides. His hair gelled back and a tad of face power so remove any shine his skin may have. Virgil had tried to put eyeliner on him too but he ran for it, claiming that he would look terrible, but promised Virgil he'd let him try it another time.

Finally there was Virgil, walking down the stairs he wore a purple vest top that had a second black fishnet layer, over his shoulders he wore a leather jacket decorated with silver chains. He also wore black ripped skinny jeans with purple tartan fabric peaking through the rips, a spiked belt held them up, and on his feet he wore black converses with purple laces. His hair was straightened and spiked at the back, his makeup was slightly different, he wore foundation and power, even a bit of bronzer to define his cheekbones, his eyes lined with black eyeliner, but instead of the usual under-eye shadow, he now wore black eye-shadow on his eyelids, making him look a lot sexier and less tired. To finish off he wore spiked wristbands and a cross necklace.

Virgil walked down the stairs and nervously approached the others by the front door, everyone looked at him with wide eyes, even Logan.

"Oh my word" Logan exclaimed before anyone else had the chance, Patton pouted at the way Logan was looking at him and playfully punched his arm, Patton, though cute and adorable, got easily jealous.

Roman and Virgil laughed at that and left Logan and Patton to kiss and makeup while Roman walked up to Virgil and looked him up and down, clearly checking him out "Geez Virge, I never knew you had an outfit like that" Roman gawked.

Virgil looked away a little flustered by all the attention "W-Well… You never see me go to work so…" He shrugged before glancing at a stunned Roman.

"W-Wait?! You work!? When? Where?!" he asked, catching the attention of the make-out couple.

Virgil's eyes widened before punching Roman in the arm "Shh!" he sighed "I'll tell you later" he chuckled rolling his eyes, he then walked past the stunned other towards the door "We going or what?" Virgil asked, raising a brow at the couple by the door.

Patton grinned happily, practically bouncing on the spot "Yeah! Lets go! The taxi is outside!" he opened the door, all making sure they have their own keys and phone before locking up and getting into the taxi.

Before they knew it, they were in the club, it was large and had a lot of people there already, and it was only 10:30. Patton held Logan's hand constantly, not wanting to lose him, knowing that secretly, Logan also had a fear of large crowds, not that he'd ever admit this to the other two, only Patton knew.

Virgil was adamant at first but Roman placed an arm around his shoulders and led the boy in, walking over to the bar with him, trying not to separate from Patton and Logan.

They ordered drinks, Roman and Logan ordering beers while Patton and Virgil ordering cocktails. It didn't take long for Roman to join the dance floor, Patton and Logan were stood by the bar drinking and chatting, cuddled close together with an arm around each others waist. And then there was Virgil, sat on a tall stool, with his back to the bar as he watched Roman dancing around other people. Virgil had his drink in his hand and drank through a straw, unfortunately, having not had a cocktail before; he didn't know how to pace himself, as they do just taste like juice.

Within the hour Virgil had drank 4 cocktails, still sat at his spot by the bar. Logan had taken a seat a few spaced down, pacing his drinks and finding a drunk Patton highly amusing as he danced around him. Roman was still dancing on the dance floor, having come over to check on Virgil a few times and to get another beer.

As the night went on Virgil began feeling the full effect of the alcohol, he'd even gone up and danced with Roman for a bit, but when he nearly fell down Roman took him back to the bar and had water ordered for him. "You okay?" Roman shouted over the loud music, Virgil just stared at him with a big grin and a nod, sipping his water. Roman couldn't help but chuckle at this 'Drunk Virgil is adorable~' he thought before shaking that thought away as quickly as it had come.

"Princey pretty~ Princey go dance now~" Virgil slurred and hiccupped, Roman smiled "Are you sure? I can stay with you a bit longer?" he asked, to be sure Virgil would be all right. The latter nodded again pushing Roman weakly in the direction of the dance floor.

With that, Roman returned to the dance floor, he even did a bit of karaoke.

Virgil felt like the world was spinning and very out of focus but he kind of liked the feeling too, he turned in his chair to ask for another drink, but before he could get the bartenders attention a guy came up next to him. This guy had a similar aesthetic as Virgil except all black and much more gothic than punk.

Virgil blinked and looked at him "Hewwo?" he slurred out, making the stranger laugh.

"You've had a lot tonight, haven't you buddy?" Virgil smiled cutely and nodded his head at the strangers words.

The guy smirked "How about I buy you one more, huh?" Virgil nodded again more vigorously this time.

Soon he found himself downing what he could vaguely make out to be whiskey, but it tasted kind of weird, not that this thought lasted that long "S'ank you for… hic… dwink" he thanked the stranger, who in turn smirked.

"Gotta go loo…" he mumbled to himself, slipping off the stool and going to Patton to let him know where he was going "Going loo" he spoke into Patton's ear. Patton grinned and nodded with a thumbs up, with that Virgil headed to the bathroom.

After finishing his business and washing his hands he looked into the mirror, the world was spinning, his vision wouldn't focus and he began to feel rather numb… The bathroom was empty at this moment, until the stranger Virgil met at the bar came in. "Hi 'gain!" Virgil greeted unaware that the man had just locked the bathroom door behind him.

The stranger came up behind Virgil; the latter leaning on the sink trying to keep himself upright, he then saw the stranger behind him in the mirror. "Hey there beautiful~" the man spoke, pressing his body up against Virgil's back, this made Virgil tense up. The stranger's hands landed on his outer-thighs and moved up slowly over Vigils hips before dipping into the front of Virgil's pants.

The younger frowned a little and whined weakly, he felt weak… really weak… he couldn't move… he couldn't fight this man off… he could bare talk…

"Mmm… N-No… Don't…" Virgil whined, trying to pull away from this guy, but to no avail. The man's hands cupped Virgil and rubbed his nether region causing Virgil to gasp and bite his lip firmly, he would not moan for this creep!

Virgil had never done anything like this with anyone, and with the drug in his system he felt really sensitive… and he hated it!

Virgil could feel hot tears falling down his cheeks, his breathing became unstable and a low growl erupted from his chest.

'danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger'

The man behind him paid no heed, taking the growl as a good thing, until Virgil began physically shaking.

'danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger'

The man looked at Virgil in the mirror, his eyes widening as Virgil's eyes turned bright yellow and his pupil shrunk to a think slit. The stranger backed away slowly as he watched Virgil flinch and grow and change.

'danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger danger'

A loud growl echoed throughout the bathroom, Virgil's clothes ripping and falling to the floor in shreds as the younger transformed into a large and severely pissed off panther. "What the fuck!?" The man exclaimed before stumbling to the door, struggling to unlock it! Just before he could, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his calf, he was being dragged away from the door with Virgil's teeth sunk into his leg.

"Let go of me! Damn it!" He screamed, Virgil's muzzle was wrinkled as he bore his large teeth at the stranger after letting his leg go; Blood stained Virgil's mouth and fangs. His claws extended from his paws as the man flipped over and tried to army-man shuffle away, but didn't make it that far as Virgil's sharp claws swiped across the others back, causing the man to scream in pain, 4 long, bloody, scratches were created down his back.

At this moment Virgil was seeing red, he'd never transformed halfway through the night before. His fight or flight reflexes coupled with the panthers instinct the kill the threat had triggered something inside of Virgil. Something he couldn't control.

The man on the floor was bleeding; he could hear the low and constant growling from the beast behind him. Using all the energy he had left he pulled out his pocketknife quickly, flipping it open. The man took a few deep steady his breath before turning around with a loud groan of pain and throwing the knife at Virgil.

A loud whimper of pain could be heard among a mixture of screams.

"Virgil!"

"N-No!"

"What the fuck did you do?!"

Roman had been dancing for a while, it had been about half an hour since he last checked up on Virgil, so he figured he'd go and check once more.

He walked over to the bar and frowned, looking left and right and standing on his toes to see a mess of Purple hair, but to no avail… He then walked over to Patton and Logan "Hey! Have you seen Virgil?" He shouted over the music, Patton looked at Roman and nodded his head "He said he wanted the loo!"

Roman hummed though he still had an uncomfortable feeling about it… "He's been there for 10 minutes now… you don't think he's fallen asleep in the stall do you?" Logan asked.

The three exchanged worried glanced before agreeing silently to check on him. The three made it to the bathroom door, Roman went to push it open but… "Its locked…" he spoke, far away from the booming music now, so they were able to talk without throwing up their lungs.

Patton frowned and knocked on the door "Virgil? You in there?" he called out, but heard nothing. Roman pressed his ear up against the door, his eyes only widened as he heard growls and heavy pained breaths from inside "Oh my g- VIRGIL?!" Roman shouted banging on the door. His outburst shocked the other two but also flooded them with dread.

Suddenly Logan pushed Roman out of the way, Roman was going to explode but he saw the other frantically picking at the lock.

Finally it was unlocked and all eyes widened at what they saw "N-No!" Patton covered his mouth as tears flowed freely, Logan stood there shocked at the sight of the blood.

"Virgil!" Roman on the other hand had already exploded "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!" He screamed towards the bleeding man on the floor after seeing the knife impaling his... his…

Roman shook and grabbed the guy, heaving him up into a sitting position, and pinning him to a stall. "What did you do to him…?"

The man stared back in shock and half delirious "W-What did _I_ do to him? HA! I just wanted a quick fuck and this kid turned into a fucking monster!" He defended himself poorly. Roman couldn't hold back the rage he felt just then, he didn't care if this lowlife was already injured. Roman swung a hard punch to his face, knocking the man unconscious.

Meanwhile Patton held his hands up and slowly walked toward Virgil, the latter barely able to stand, panting heavily and glaring at the others in a room, acting like an animal trapped in a corner. Nevertheless, Patton creeped closer "V-Virge? Hey… Kiddo? It's me, Patton" He tried to call to Virgil though tears. However, the lack of oxygen and the wound to his upper chest/shoulder caused Virgil to collapse to the ground in panther form.

Patton gasped and ran over to Virgil, throwing caution to the wind, placing a hand on his fur, away from the stab wound. "V-Virgil? Hey! Can you hear me?!" he could see Virgil's glazed eyes look at him before rolling back and falling unconscious. As Virgil lost consciousness his body began to shrink, everyone eyes widened as his form reverted back to human. "You watch him, I'll get help" Logan spoke, trying to keep calm, Patton nodded letting out a sob.

Roman had watched Virgil lose consciousness and revert back to his human form. He lay there limply, more pale than on average. Lying on his side with his fringe covering his face, blood around his mouth and fingers, also naked. Roman quickly removed his shirt and rolled Virgil onto his back gently with Patton's help, covering Virgil's dignity with his shirt.

"W-What time is it?" Roman asked, his teary eyes unable to look away from the blood.

Patton looked at his watched and widened his eyes "I-It's… 4:40am" he then looked at Virgil and the knife imbedded in his shoulder

"S-Shit…" Roman's jaw clenched.

Logan ran outside to find a security guard, quickly explaining a rape situation to him, the guard called the police and an ambulance before following Logan back to the bathroom. The guard quickly cuffed the now unconscious and bleeding man, carefully carried him away, not asking many questions as that was not his job.

Roman looked at Logan once the man was gone "W-What did you tell him?"

Logan knelt down by the two after grabbing a wet paper towel and gently wiped the blood from Virgil's mouth and fingers. "I told him that the man had r-raped our friend…" he had difficulty saying this without falling apart. "I also told him that he'd stabbed him and in self defence you knocked him unconscious"

Roman nodded and looked at Virgil, brushing his fringe from his face with trembling hands "I-I'm… I'm so so sorry… Virgil… I promised… I promised I'd look after you… I f-failed… O-Oh god…" Roman broke, a river of tears streamed down his face, even Logan behind him closed his eyes as tears fell…

"W-We both p-promised… W-We're all t-to blame…" Patton spoke, hugging himself and falling in to Logan's arms.

"P-Please be okay…" Roman muttered, stroking Virgil's hair.

This night was meant to be fun… They had not expected this to happen… They all knew that the stranger might speak out on Virgil's panther form but they weren't worried about it, like anyone would believe a drunken rapist… No… They were worried and scared for their friend, family member…

The ambulance arrived, taking Virgil in on a stretcher "You guy's go ahead, I'll stay be hind and speak to the police, I'll meet you at the hospital" Logan told them, Patton didn't want to leave Logan but he'd insisted. Both Patton and Romans joined Virgil in the ambulance; Romans knuckles were all bloody and also needing medical basic assistance…

Patton held Virgil's hand in an attempt to comfort the unconscious form, but he knew that there was no comfort that could heal their hearts right now.

A/N: I'M SO SORRY VIRGIL! Waahhhhhhh!... I didn't want to but it happened . I hope he will be okee… I feel so bad… still… hope you enjoyed it to some extent and oh man Roman is becoming extremely protective 0-0


	7. Chapter 7

It was still dark outside, the clock on the white, bland wall read 5:38am.

Inside of a hospital room Virgil lay in a hospital gown, oxygen mask on over his pale face, the nurse having removed his makeup. The knife had been removed during a small surgery, there hadn't been too much internal damage and the wound had been stitched and bandaged up, with a sling around his arm.

Around his bed was Patton, sat on Logan's lap fast asleep, after the emotional turmoil he couldn't stay awake any longer. Logan however, was fully awake and blankly looking out the window, the nights' events replaying in his mind.

He had stuck around and answered the police officers questions, luckily there weren't that many and Logan was able to catch a taxi to the hospital, arriving just after Virgil got out of surgery.

Roman sat on the other side of the bed, holding Virgil's hand, silent tears still falling from his face. He now had light bandages wrapped around his hands, the damage from punching that man had left him with scrapes on his knuckled but he didn't care… he didn't even feel pain… the only pain he felt was in his heart, the image of Virgil being assaulted burnt in to his mind.

Logan's eyes drifted towards the clock "oh… crap" he muttered, his eyes widening at the realisation, they'd all forgotten about it in the panic, but in less than 30 minutes Virgil would transform - again.

As if he hadn't been through enough pain already…

Logan looked at Roman with sorrow, not wanting to bring it up but he had no choice, the nurse would return soon and see not a human, but a large black cat in the bed… this would only worsen the situation…

"Roman… I'm sorry… but we need to go home… now"

Roman tore his eyes away from Virgil to look at Logan; his expression was unreadable… He was clearly broken. Nonetheless, Logan continued, "Virgil is going to transform… It's almost 6" he spoke quietly but a bit rushed.

Roman's red puffy eyes widened a bit "Oh shit…" he outwardly gasped before standing suddenly, causing his chair to crash backwards. This sound startled Patton awake, jolting a bit in Logan's lap. Logan rubbed his back "Shhh, it's okay, go back to sleep" and without a single word Patton fell back in to a deep sleep.

Roman looked at Logan in a slight state of panic "W-What are we going to do?"

"First, calm yourself… Then unplug Virgil from the monitor, remember to turn it off first, we don't want the doctors running in here thinking he's flat lined." Roman nodded, following Logan's instructions as if he were in a panicked trance.

"Okay, now, I will carry Pat… You carry Virgil, we need to make it home before he transforms… otherwise I don't know how we will get him home…" He feared that with Virgil's large feline form, they'd have an even worse night if someone found out, or he transformed in the backseat of a taxi.

They dashed out of the hospital as fast as they could, hoping into a taxi and heading home, both sat in the back with an unconscious body on their laps.

Logan looked at his watch; he was beginning to show signs of irritation.

5:54am

"Please hurry" Logan told the driver, but knew this wouldn't help.

5:58am

The taxi parked up outside their house "Roman, take him inside now!... I'll deal with things here" without having to be told twice, Roman ran to the front door, cursing that it was locked! He sat Virgil down gently before grabbing his key and unlocking the door, his eyes widening as he heard the first moan of pain from the younger. "Crap!"

He picked the tensing form up quickly, kicking the door open and running over to the couch, laying him down and removing his hospital gown. He'd seen Virgil naked before, from previous transformations, it never bothered him but he still instinctively pulled the red blanket over him as he began to change.

6:00am

The front door slamming closed could be heard, as Logan walked in, Patton in his arms still, and looked at Roman who stood swaying slightly by the couch "Ro… Take my seat and get some sleep… I am going to take Patton to bed too… We will talk more later" Logan told him, trying his best to stay focused.

Roman simply nodded before collapsing in a heap on the armchair, falling asleep instantly. Logan glanced at Virgil in his panther form, covered with a red blanket "I'm sorry…" he muttered before taking Patton to bed.

1:24pm

Roman groaned as he began to awaken, momentarily forgetting the events of last night. He brought his hand to his head and sat up in the chair he'd apparently passed out in "O-Oww… My head…"

"Here" Roman opened his puffy eyes to see Patton holding out a bottle of water and two pills for him "Thanks pat" he took them, swallowing the pain killers with the water before capping the bottle once again. He then noticed the red, puffy eyes and the forlorn look in Patton's face as he walked back over to Logan silently, who sat at the dinner table just behind the sofa.

Roman's eyes then landed on the red blanket and then an unconscious feline Virgil, the memories of last night suddenly flooded his mind causing his heart to clench and his fingers to loose grip of the bottle in his hand.

He rose and moved to kneel beside the sofa, his hand gently placing itself on Virgil's jawline. "H-He… He hasn't woken up yet?" Roman asked, his gaze moving to the two at the table.

Patton sniffled and rubbed his nose with this sleeve before shaking his head "N-No… And… I couldn't wake him up…" Patton said, but before Roman could start freaking out Logan pitched in "I checked his vitals, and re-stitched his wound… Some stitches broke when he transformed so we may have to patch up his wound ever time his transforms…" Roman bit his lip at that before Logan continued, "Virgil is okay Roman, but the alcohol, plus the horrors of last night, must have his mental state in overdrive. I'll be surprised if he remembers anything from last night" He looked down at the mug of coffee he'd been nursing.

Roman frowned at that before sitting on the floor beside the sofa, looking at Virgil "It would probably be best if he doesn't remember" he spoke carefully, retrieving silent agreement from the others.

'If he remembers then he'll bring up his walls again… probably worse than last time… I wouldn't blame him either… The poor kid had been through enough… why can't fate give him a break…' Roman thought to himself.

All three stayed in their positions all day, Patton occasionally making some food for them, Logan reading a book, and checking Virgil's wound and vitals, and Roman just sitting and waiting for Virgil to regain consciousness. However, no one spoke a word throughout the entire time.

The afternoon grew darker, and everyone was sat in the living room, Logan sat in his armchair reading a book with one hand while the other wrapped around Patton who sat on his lap watching the TV. Roman's eyes remained on Virgil, unable to look away even when Moana was playing on the TV.

He suddenly gasped when he saw the youngest begin to move a little, his eyes flickering open "Virgil!" he sat up on his knees. Patton gasped and climbed off Logan, the latter following behind his boyfriend, all concerned eyes stared at the pale one.

Virgil blinked his eyes open, he could feel a pain in his shoulder and hissed "O-Ow…" he groaned, his head also killing him.

"How you feeling kiddo?" Patton asked from behind Roman. Virgil looked at them all and took in their expressions "Like shit…" he grumbled, unable remember a thing from last night "What's going on…? W-Where am i?" he asked, unable to move. Patton bit his lip at this and shrunk away into Logan's arms.

Roman visibly swallowed "Y-Youre at home, don't worry, you're safe"

Virgil frowned a little at their expressions "What… What happened…? I don't- ah!" he had tried to sit up but only whimpered and quickly decided against it. "W-Why does my shoulder hurt so much, what happened, why can't I remember anything.." his questions were fast and panicked, his breathing becoming uneven and in short bursts.

"S-Shhh… Shhh calm down Virge" Roman hushed, leaning over and stroking Virgil's cheek, looking him in the eyes "Look at me, yes, good, breathe, slowly, calm down, you're safe now" Roman continued to do this until Virgil calmed.

There was silence for a while, Roman had helped Virgil sit up, the red blanket wrapped around him dropped a bit to reveal his scared torso to the living room, but covered his lower half.

Virgil looked at his shoulder and frowned, having no memory of the past events. Roman sighed after a while "Virge, Listen and don't panic okay?" he asked, though he knew it was pointless "We all drank quite a lot last night, and had a good time… until… well… we think you were drugged" he began, Virgil's eyes widening.

But Roman continued, "You went to the bathroom… but were followed…" Virgil could see tears welling up in Roman's already puffy eyes, finding it difficult to talk about. "He tried to…to…" Roman felt a warm hand on his shoulder, silent support from Logan. Taking a breath he looked at Virgil and took his hand "We don't think he managed to … to… But he… had a knife… A-And…" he couldn't say it… he refused to…

However Romans eyes widened when he felt Virgil squeeze his hand, he looked up at the younger and was surprised to see him giving Roman a small comforting smile. The three in the room couldn't believe it; the young boy was trying to comfort _them_? After all he'd been through!

That did it, the tears fell down Roman's cheeks "I-I'm sorry… I failed to protect you" he squeezed Virgil's hand back. Virgil looked up hearing Patton sniffle too in Logan's arms, the latter was looking away as if upset with himself.

"G-Guys…" Virgil's voice was hoarse, causing them to flinch a bit "I… I don't remember but… I can feel that you saved me… I… I'm not sure how I got stabbed… but… I know you saved me, so make that counts"

All three looked at Virgil in shock 'was he really trying to cheer _them_ up?!'

The clock struck 6pm, Virgil clamped his eyes together "Ah!.. shit!..." he cried out, this time around hurt a lot more than before, if he'd have to guess he'd say it was the injury.

Roman sat next to him and held him close as he transformed, trying his best to settle the pain as much as possible until he had a large black panther lying across his lap, unconscious. They had managed to tell Virgil most of the events but… They still needed to talk about the anomaly transformation…

They all sighed, exhausted both mentally and physically.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been 3 weeks since that terrible night, and they still hadn't told Virgil about his abnormal transformation, and as time passed by, and the event was slowly being forgotten, it became harder and harder to bring up; to the point that it simply forgotten about; at least for now.

Virgil had finally managed to heal, even though the healing took longer than the norm as his transformations kept breaking the stitches.

Roman had taken care of him for the first week, namely by watching all the movies Disney had to offer and lots of meat dishes. However, the past 2 weeks Patton and Logan had taken turns off of work to aid the youngest; as Roman had a large stage performance in another city to attend.

During the past 2 weeks Roman had been in a total turmoil. Ever since he'd gotten the part, he had this lingering feeling of… dismay

Usually Roman would be ecstatic, especially for a part this large! He couldn't understand why the excitement wasn't there, and what's worse, this lack of excitement followed through into his acting… His usual passion for acting was clearly lacking, so much so his fans could see it.

"Uh oh" Vigil spoke from the couch, looking at his phone. It was just after dinner and he'd transformed back to human. Patton sat on the sofa next to him and Logan on his chair with a book.

"Uh oh?" Patton repeated, looking at the youngest; Logan didn't have much interest as he continued reading.

"Yeah… I was just looking through social media" Virgil began. He was _totally_ not checking on Roman… At least he'd never admit it… he'd _especially_ not admit that he was, and still is, a fan of his performances. "Just came across a couple people who'd gone to see Roman's performance and a full-on forum has erupted…" He finished, playing it off the best he could.

Patton tilted his head a bit "Why, uh oh, though?" He asked, confused as to why Roman's fans would cause that reaction from the younger.

"It seems Roman's acting had been poor over the past 2 weeks and the fan's are getting worried…" Virgil spoke, trying not to stutter as his mind began to reel.

'What happened to Roman? Was he sick? If he didn't want to go then he should have stayed! But… It's not like I could have taken care-… wait… I'm not worried… but I am… Why were his performances bad? Should I care? I dunno… WAIT! Was it my fault?! Did I exhaust him too much when I was injured!? Oh my god… what if this is my entire fault… I'm ruining his career! What do I do?!'

Virgil's eyes were widening more and more as his mind reeled anxious and self-deprecating thoughts. His face paling and breathing becoming erratic, and this didn't go unnoticed by Patton.

"-gil… Virge… Virgil!" Patton's voice finally got through to Virgil as he looked at the older, Patton smiled softly with clear concern in his eyes as he placed a gentle hand on Virgil's knee "hey, whatever is going through that noggin of yours, stop, I'm sure Roman is fine" Patton reassured.

"W-What?" Virgil replied 'shit! Does Patton know? But how does he know? No… he can't… maybe a lucky guess… but what if he is wrong… Roman was supposed to be home by now! What if something happened?! What if-' Virgil's mind continued on this tangent.

Patton sighed softly, he knew Virgil was worried about Roman, he wasn't stupid, he knew Roman meant a lot to Virgil these days, as Roman was, surprisingly, the first to accept him for who he was; even after the first impression.

Virgil's eyes were looking through the coffee table as Patton placed his other hand on Virgil's back, rubbing soothing circles "Virgil? Hey… calm down, Roman is fine, he texted me that his flight was delayed, but it was only by an hour or two so I didn't think to tell you, I'm sorry"

Virgil's eyes moved away from the coffee table and onto Patton before visibly gulping "I-I… It's okay Pat… I just… I wasn't… I'm not worried… about… y'know…" he grumbled at the end, turning his head away as he took deep shaky breaths to calm himself. Patton could only chuckle at how sweet Virgil's blush and denial was, and decided against teasing him right now, he'd done enough of that during the day's he'd taken care of him.

Roman had just jumped into the taxi from the airport, slouching in the back seat. He had a bunch of fans' waiting for him at arrivals, which he'd forgotten to expect… But now he was going to be even later home 'geez… being popular is exhausting… and they were all so worried… I dread to look at what they are saying online' he thought to himself with a heavy sigh.

"Rough flight?" The Taxi driver asked; Roman simply groaned in response. Luckily the taxi driver was used to silent customers, picking exhausted people up from the airport made his job less social.

After about 5 minutes in the car Roman finally pulled out his phone, scared of what notifications he'd have on his social media. He turned his phone on and as expected it buzzed and buzzed and buzzed "Crap…" he grimaced, unlocking his phone. Twitter was a nightmare, as well as instagram, and he didn't even dare look at his fan page, however, something caught his eye.

 **3 missed calls – Panic at the everywhere**

 **5 text messages – Panic at the everywhere**

Roman blinked and felt a spark of happiness rose in his chest as he sat upright in his seat; he opened up the text messages to read.

 **1:34pm – "Hey Kiddo, Virgil wanted me to text you 'Have a safe flight!' as he couldn't do it himself, isn't that sweet~ he even spelled it out with the board!"**

Roman chuckled at that, He could imagine Virgil growling at Patton for typing out more than he'd intended.

 **6:01pm – "Ignore Patton… I just… wanted to text you 'have a safe flight' but he stole my phone and ran to his room… [Frowning emoji]**

Yep, he'd hit the nail on the head!

 **6:39pm – "Hey… umm… Sorry to disturb but… I saw some things online… just… concerned… sorta… hope you're okay… or… whatever"**

 **6:45pm – "Oh… Also Patton's worried too…"**

 **8:26pm – "Just… checking in… again… haven't heard from you… hope you're okay… don't read this wrong… I just… you know I hate flying… so… it makes me uncomfortable… oh… and I'm… I'm sorry…"**

Roman frowned a bit 'Sorry? Why is he sorry?' he thought to himself. He looked at the time seeing it was 8:45pm, his flight had been delayed but his fans held him up longer than he'd expected… He still had a half an hour taxi ride… Roman could just see Virgil sat on the sofa with his phone in his hand having a mini panic attack waiting for a reply, with Patton trying to settle him. This imaginary, and probably accurate image made his heart flutter a bit, Virgil was worried about him.

He began texting the other.

[A/N: so I made a Texting Story video of this convo for more Umph~ you can watch it here, enjoy: post/180971481688/a-texting-story-of-virgil-worried-about-roman-for ]

 **Roman | 8:48pm | "Hey Virge!"**

 **Virgil | 8:48pm | "Roman? Are you okay? Was the plane okay? Patton was getting really worried!"**

Roman smirked, knowing that was Virgil's way of saying he was worried.

 **Roman | 8:49pm | "Don't worry, the flight was delayed, but fine, I was bombarded by fans at arrival… that's why I'm late-r"**

 **Virgil | 8:55pm | "Oh"**

This reply got a laugh out of Roman; he could just imagine Virgil having worked himself up all afternoon/evening and was now calming himself down somewhat. Roman blinked and looked at his screen as a second message came through.

 **Virgil | 8:56pm | "I'm sorry…"**

 **Roman | 8:56pm | "Why are** _ **you**_ **sorry?"**

 **Virgil | 8:57pm | "I just… I saw… I mean… your fans are worried about you"**

 **Roman | 8:58pm | "Yes, I noticed, but why are** _ **you**_ **sorry?"**

 **Virgil | 9:00pm | "Apparently your… performances were… umm… lacking… and I just… I figured… It's because you were too exhausted having to take care of… me"**

Roman's eyes widened at this, not expecting the other to blame himself for his bad performances! He himself didn't even know why he had lacked passion but he knew that all he could think about was Virgil and if he was okay… Maybe this was a distraction but it wasn't Virgil's fault… It was his, for losing focus, for thinking about him too much… but then that asks another question… Why was he thinking about Virgil so much?

Sure, he'd become close to Virgil, but out of friendship and… and…

He wasn't fooling himself; ever since Virgil had told him how to break the curse his mind had been only… Virgil… He never really expected to fall for a dark and sinister persona but… somehow it happened… He cared for the younger and wanted to only make him happy… and when he was apart he felt disconnected and unenthusiastic…

 **Virgil | 9:07pm | "R-Roman?"**

'Oh crap! That was a long time to not reply! Virgil is probably having a panic attack right now!'

 **Roman | 9:07pm | "Sorry buddy! The taxi driver stole my attention for just a moment"**

He lied.

 **Virgil | 9:07pm | "-_-"**

 **Roman | 9:07pm | "Virgil, you did nothing wrong, looking after you was a delight! Surprisingly [Wink emoji]"**

 **Roman | 9:08pm | "I'll be home in about 10 minutes, how about we watch something and chat then?"**

 **Roman | 9:09pm | "You can even pick the movie~"**

 **Virgil | 9:10pm | "…"**

 **Virgil | 9:10pm | "Ok, see you soon"**

Roman sighed softly, Patton and Logan tended to go to bed at 10pm when they had work the next day, so at least he'd have Virgil to himself after that. He still didn't know where Virgil worked, Roman hummed, pursing his lips and made a mental note to ask him when he arrived home.

For the last 5 minutes of the taxi ride he read through his old messages, avoiding the fans at all costs, and thought about how worried and anxious Virgil had been, they had texted each other practically every day… Maybe… Maybe Virgil liked him too?

'Don't be stupid Roman…" he thought to himself putting his phone away.


	9. Chapter 9

Virgil sat anxiously on the couch, his hood up, headphones on, legs hugged to his chest, and with his hand gripping his phone tightly. He listened to music while he waited for Roman to return home, his eyes flickering to the clock in the living room every few seconds.

'Ten minutes he said… I'll be home soon he said…'

Virgil sighed, it had been 15 minutes since he last texted Roman. Patton was sat next to Virgil chatting away but Virgil had shut off from him a while ago. Logan had even told Patton that Virgil wasn't listening but he still continued.

After a few more minutes the door bust open "The Prince had returne-Oof!" Roman burst in with his bags in hand and arms stretched out, making his dramatic entrance but was cut off when he felt something practically tackle him, making him drop his bag at the impact. He laughed a little and hugged the figure back thinking it was Patton.

"A bit aggressive Patton but lovely all the same" he chuckled and opened his eyes, they then widened as he saw Patton stood next to Logan in the living room entryway. Patton housing the largest smirk he'd ever seen on him, and Logan beside him with his hand covering his mouth to hold back laughter.

Roman blinked before looking down at the figure hugging him so tightly "V-Virgil?" his eyes widened further as he saw just a purple patched hoodie hugging his middle, shivering a bit and Virgil's face hidden in his chest.

"I-I'm sorry…" Virgil muffled him into his chest before pulling back, pulling down his sleeves and tugging the hood further over his blushing face nervously.

Virgil had no idea what had gotten into him; he had been listening to music when he suddenly heard the front door and Roman's voice, his body then B-lined to the front door!... He needed to be near this man… His body took complete control, or rather the feline inside of him did…

Roman could see Virgil trembling, and this made the princely character smile softly before pulling Virgil back in for another hug, wrapping his arms securely around him.

Virgil tensed up a bit, not expecting to be hugged freely after his weird outburst, nonetheless, Romans scent quickly calmed him and relaxed his body; his hand still tugging on his sleeve as he leaned his body into the taller.

Roman looked over to Patton and the latter quickly got the silent message. The dad figure nodded his head and then took Logan's hand before waving 'goodbye' to Roman and leading Logan upstairs to give the two some alone time.

When they were alone Roman kept one arm around Virgil's silent form and lead him to the couch; leaving his bags by the door for now.

He sat the younger down before sitting next to him; as soon as Virgil sat down he instinctively curled up, with his legs pulled to his chest and hugged them, his hood still up and face buried in his knees, only enabling Roman to see one eye; as the other was hidden by Virgil's fringe.

Silence filled the dimly lit living room as Roman relaxed, waiting for Virgil to say something, but when he figured he wouldn't say anything he then turned on the TV and put Netflix on.

"I promised that you could choose, and I am a prince of my word" Roman smiled and propped the remote on top of Virgil's knees with a smirk and chuckle.

Virgil blinked before lifting his head a little and narrowing his eyes at the other; he then took the remote and flicked through the movies available, finally landing on the live action version of Beauty and the Beast, which took Roman by surprise.

Virgil pressed play without a word before putting the remote on the coffee table, he then sat back into the couch, a little closer to Roman this time but still curling up into himself, hugging his knees.

Roman watched Virgil curiously; Roman was sat on the middle cushion of the sofa with one arm stretched out across the back, one leg crossed over the other with the other hand rested on his knee. Virgil sat curled up just next to him, he hadn't said a word but Roman didn't want to pressure him, he had a feeling the little Emo kid just wanted his company and comfort for now.

So he obliged.

Somewhere through the beginning of the movie Roman's arm had moved from the back of the couch and around Virgil's shoulders; pulling him closer. Virgil tensed up at first and Roman could only imagine his face being bright red, but he soon relaxed and shuffled a bit to get comfortable in the others side embrace.

Close to the end of the movie Roman could hear a faint sniffle, but he resisted the urge to look at the source, as he knew Virgil would just run a mile if anyone knew he was crying. A small smile curled up on Roman's lips. Within the movie, Bell had just confessed her love for the Beast and kissed him.

The movie made it out to be 'too' late' for the couple at first, but soon after, the castle, servants, and Beast began to revert back to how they had once been. Then was the large ball, playing the 'Beauty and the Beast' song, Roman remembered what Virgil had said about this movie, and how he compared it to his life… then… a thought came to him…

'What if he put this film on as a message to me? He clearly didn't like the movie as it reminded him of his life and curse… but… if that's the case then why would _he_ chose this movie?'

His face frowned a bit unconsciously, in deep thought. He hadn't even realised the movie had finished until he felt a strong and worried gaze looking at him.

Virgil hadn't wanted to say anything, he didn't know what to say for starters, and so he just leaned into Roman comfortably and watched the movie. He used to hate this movie, his world wasn't as kind as theirs and he'd never find his true love…

That is… Until now…

Somewhere within the two weeks of living in a Roman-less house, Virgil had realised he couldn't be away from him. Even texting him every day wasn't enough; Patton had to stop him twice from buying a plane ticket to see the other.

He'd even spent nights trying to plan how he would tell Roman how he felt about him, even with Patton's help; nothing got passed Patton, he knew his feelings before Virgil had even figured it out.

However… now… after hearing about Roman's performances… Maybe telling him wasn't a good idea… Virgil's mind had told him that it was his fault… It was his fault that Roman was worried about him, his fault that Roman wasted his energy on him, his fault that Roman felt obliged to take care of him, his fault that Roman was now frowning…

The movie ended and Virgil plucked up the courage to look up at the other but felt his heart almost stop and his face lose blood as he saw the frown currently placed on Romans face.

'W-What did I do? Is he mad at me? Is he gunna throw me out?' Virgil's mind tortured him.

Roman looked at the younger, seeing the fear in his eyes and how tightly Virgil was gripping his sleeve. As soon as he saw this Roman's face softened "S-Sorry about that, Virge, I was just in deep thought, I didn't mean to scare you" he informed and was going to reach out to touch his hand but Virgil flinched away.

Roman almost felt his heart break as Virgil scooted away from him and curled up in the corner of the couch like before "W-What's wrong?" Roman asked worried, turning his whole body to the side to face the younger.

"I-I'm sorry… I… I-I'm so s-sorry"

Romans eyes widened as these words spilled out of Virgil's mouth, the latter sounding as if he was holding back a sob.

"W-What? Why? You've said that before, but why are _you_ sorry, Virge? You've done nothing wrong" his gaze was soft but he kept his distance, not wanting to scare Virgil away.

"I-It's all my… - sniff - …Fault"

Roman frowned a little, more out of confusion than ever. "What are you talking about?"

"You… Your show… such a big part… and… and…" Virgil sniffled, hiding his lower face with his sleeves.

Roman blinked before sighing, realising he was continuing the conversation from the phone messages. "Virgil… Listen to me very carefully"

All he got was a quiet sniff in response. "My bad acting was not your fault, it was mine, I was not exhausted after taking care of you, in fact, I'd have preferred to take care of you over the past 2 weeks than gone to that show but I didn't really have a choice… my agent would have killed me…" he sighed.

Suddenly Virgil's head rose, his tear-filled eyes wide and on show for Roman to see, it took a moment before he'd realised what he had just said, what he had just indirectly told him.

As soon as he realised this, his eyes also widened and he moved his hand to cover his mouth.

Virgil looked at Roman in shock 'did… did he just admit that he'd prefer to be with me then on stage… the thing he loves most and would die for… or… or am I just imagining it… maybe he didn't mean it and he's just trying to make me feel better…' Virgil thought as he stared at the other.

"R-Roman?" Virgil's sweet mid-crying voice sent a shiver down Roman's back "D-Do you… I mean… you love theatre… and you just… I… I mean…" Virgil bit his lip, he couldn't say it… his lips wouldn't let him!

Roman's face flushed a little, but he knew he had to take control of himself and the situation. He hadn't expected to confess this early, he wasn't prepared, this wasn't what he had in mind but if he said something wrong he could hurt Virgil or worse…

Roman took a deep breath, straightening himself up. His eyes looking into to Virgil's; the tears making them shine like diamonds.

He moved forward a little and took Virgil's hand gently in his; the boy didn't pull back though they were shaking aggressively.

After a moment of silence Roman finally opened his mouth.

"Virgil, I…"


	10. Chapter 10

"Virgil, I…"

Virgil's eyes were wide; his brain felt cluttered with multiple voices, and was shaking rather aggressively. His heart pulsating extremely fast while unable to breathe, he'd felt like this before; fear, danger, though there was no initial danger, the fear of what Roman might tell him was recreating the physical reaction he'd had that fateful night.

'Virgil, I… Hate you, want you gone, can't stay with you, loath you…' Virgil's mind was overloading, as it had once before, flashing images of the horrific event began blocking the sight of Roman in front of him, the memories causing tears to surface and fall down his pale cheeks.

Roman was just about to confess when he heard Virgil whimper and an internal growl sounded from his chest, the older looked at Virgil in slight fear and major concern.

"V-Virgil? Hey… Hey… Can you hear me?" Roman spoke and cupped a hand on Virgil's moist cheek, the latter didn't move, he didn't even flinch. Roman looked into the Virgil's wide eyes and saw the motion of his pupil spasm to a slit as his iris began changing to a bright yellow "N-No… Not again, Virgil…! Listen to me…! Please…! I-I love you…! You're not in danger…! Breath…! Stay with me…! Don't let the panther take over!" he called out, on his knees on the sofa with both hands now on the trembling boys face.

Roman remembered seeing Virgil's panther form in bathroom that night… It wasn't Virgil… The feline within him had completely taken over at that time! He couldn't let it happen again!

"Virgil! Please! Can you see me? C-Can you hear me? Please Virge! Calm down! There is no danger here! I promise!" his face inches away from Virgil's mostly still form, he could hear the growls from within him, and see his form slowly changing.

"What's going on?!" Roman heard Patton and Logan from the stairs but he had no time, he had to stop this before the panther inside of Virgil did something Virgil would never recover from!

Roman leaned in quickly, closing his eyes and pressing his lips against Virgil's, enveloping the younger in a tight and secure embrace as his lips locked passionately against the others.

It felt as if time had slowed down, the growling within Virgil had seized, his wide yellow eyes dimmed back to their chocolate brown/hazel. Roman's arms remained secure around the younger frail form and his soft lips pressed against Virgil's; that is until Roman felt the youngers body go limp in his arms.

Roman's eyes shot open as he pulled back to look at the ragdoll body in his arms "V-Virgil? H-Hey… Virge… w-what… w-wake up" He spoke shaking Virgil gently.

Virgil laid against Roman, completely limp, his eyes closed and no sign of life.

Patton looked at Logan before they both ran towards the sofa "W-What happened?" Patton asked nervously, tears already leaking from his eyes. Roman sat in shock with Virgil in his arms "I-I… I don't… T-True loves kiss… I thought… I thought it was meant to work…" He mumbled, more to himself than the others.

Logan, though seeming calm, was panicking internally; he leaned forward and placed two fingers on Virgil's neck.

After a moment of nothing but the threes' breathing, Logan pulled his fingers away and shook his head slowly in complete turmoil and shock

"No…" Patton chocked.

Roman looked at Logan, as tears fell from his eyes "He's not- … No! He can't be!" Roman shook Virgil's pale form more vigorously this time "Hey! Wake up! You told me true loves kiss could break the curse! I LOVE YOU GODDAMMIT! So work and bring him back to me!" Roman sobbed holding the smaller form close.

Patton cried into Logan's chest "L-Lo… Please tell me you lied… I w-wont be that mad I promise… H-He's not dead… Right?" He begged looking up at the stoic character, however, he got no response, confirming his fears; Virgil was dead.

"B-But…" Patton glanced at the couple on the couch "B-But how… Why… I-If what Roman said was true t-then… It should have w-worked… V-V…Virgil… he… he loved Roman… He did… I don't-"

Suddenly, a soft breeze began emitting from Virgil's body, causing the latters clothing to ripple. The small breeze soon enhanced to a stronger wind being radiated from Virgil's body "W-What the-" Roman looked through tears at Virgil before being tugged off the couch by Logan and pulled a few feet away. "Lo, what are you-"

"Shut up Roman…" is all Logan could say as he watched Virgil's limp body lay on the couch.

The three watched in partial horror and partial awe as Virgil's body began to rise from the sofa, the wind coming from Virgil began blowing sheets of paper everywhere, even the post-it notes from the board. A luminous glow began to surround the youngest, moving in and out like a pulse, his claw-like nails reverted to human nails, his fangs shrank to regular canine teeth. Hovering just above the sofa for a minute or two before the pulsating light and wind impacted Virgil's body, creating almost a thunder clap before his body fell back on the couch limply, one arm hung off and his fringe covering his eyes with his lips parted slightly.

It took a moment for that scene to sink in; Patton clung to Logan as the latter had a protective grasp on his lover. Roman stood there with wide eyes, looking at Virgil with a pit of worry and dread still simmering in his stomach.

"V-Virgil...?" His voice cracked but he didn't care, he walked to the couch before falling to his knees beside it, a shaky hand gently touching Virgil's pale cheek.

"I-I… I love you… Please… come back to me… I didn't… I didn't even get to tell you… plea-" Roman suddenly gasped as Virgil's eyes abruptly opened, his lungs loudly gasping for air as he sat up and coughed heavily.

Patton and Logan's eyes widened further, if possible, but this time out of relief "Oh thank god!" Patton muttered, leaning against Logan feeling a bit weak.

Roman let the other catch his breath before getting up and sitting on the edge of the couch with Virgil's face in his hands, Roman's eyes roaming Virgil's face and body, double checking that what he was seeing was real.

Virgil had no idea what just happened, did he black out? Why did he feel so weak all of a sudden? It took him a moment to readjust his vision before realising how close Roman was to him, and how Roman was touching him. "R-Roman?" He stuttered, unable to move as the colour in his cheeks darkened.

He could see old tears and new tears in Romans eyes before suddenly being engulfed into a warm and tight embrace "Oh my god! I thought you were dead! Don't you ever do that to me again!" Roman spoke, almost out of breath.

The moment was warm, safe, secure, Virgil felt his arms automatically wrap around Roman's body, almost to comfort the older. "W-What are you talking about? I'm… I'm fine… I think…"

Roman suddenly pulled back with a frown "You think?"

Virgil nodded and looked own at his hand "I feel… weak… what happened…? You… you were saying something… you said my name and… and then…" Virgil's frown told the room that he'd blacked out, he couldn't remember to emotional torment his housemates had just endured.

Roman couldn't help but laugh, the relief and happiness filling him to the very core, the other began to laugh too, causing Virgil to pout a bit "H-Hey… What are you laughing at…" He whined.

Roman shook his head trying to calm his laughter "Well, if you hadn't freaked out on me you might have heard what I was going to tell you, but I'll be more then happy to tell you again" this made Virgil feel uneasy, remembering the voices in his head.

This time around Roman cupped his hands around Virgil's jawline, making the younger look him in the eyes, Roman's eyes were soft and full of compassion, Virgil saw Roman's lips move but almost couldn't believe what had come out of them.

"Virgil… I love you"

Virgil's eyes widened.

Roman let the words sink into the others mind before stroking Virgil's cheek with his thumb "While I was trying to tell you before… something happened… you were unresponsive, and transforming" Virgil listened before frowning a little, letting his eyes move to the clock that read 3:47am.

"What? But… that's not…"

"I know, but from what we have observed… the curse protects you from any danger you think could hurt you, like it did at the club" Logan interjected, Roman nodding in agreement.

Virgil raised his hands to remove Roman's hands from his face but still held them on his lap "If that's true… then why would it happen again… here… with you" Virgil spoke looking at Roman.

This is where Logan was stumped, he had no idea what the catalyst was in this situation, but lucky for him Roman seemed to have a good idea.

"Because… I was about to confess my feelings to you… Fear works in different ways, I don't know what was going through your mind in that moment but, your body had gone into overdrive, not breathing, erratic heart beat, shaking… like you would if you were scared, even if their wasn't danger, the curse read these physical readings as if there were and acted accordingly." Roman explained, it made logical sense but…

"Then… Then what happened? I didn't-"

"You didn't transform, because… well… I… I kissed you" Roman trailed off a bit at the end, looking away with a blush on his cheeks. Virgil's eyes widened "Y-You… You kissed me? A-and… you love me… And I… I…" Virgil visibly gulped.

'Does this mean the curse was broken?' he thought to himself but was instantly snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed all eyes were on him, mostly Romans "You… what? Virge?" the older asked, causing Virgil to blush immensely.

"O-Oh… Well… I… I love… you… too… Princey" Virgil spoke quietly but enough for the room to make out what he'd said.

Romans lips curled up into a smile, squeezing Virgil's hands lightly, the latter could hear squeals coming from Patton and a chuckle from Logan "Well, I have to say, this has definitely been an eventful evening, and the most dramatic confession I have ever witnessed" Logan spoke.

Virgil blinked and looked at Logan "Dramatic?" the younger asked. Logan then nodded his head "Yes, well… the 'true loves kiss' Roman had mentioned seemed to have…" he cleared his throat "a magical reaction… It would seem the curse has indeed been broken, thus further explaining the weakness you feel and the physical change"

Virgil listened, nodding but didn't know how to react, he felt weak, he felt loved, he felt overwhelmed, there was so much information being thrown at him.

"Virgil?" Romans voice snapped him out of his thoughts "One thing at a time, firstly, I think your curse is broken, I'll even wait up with you until 6 to find out" he smiled kissing the back of Virgil's hand. "Secondly, I love you, I have for a while and it makes me so happy to know you feel the same way" he admitted, earning a blush from Virgil. "Thirdly, after a good amount of rest, would you like to go on a date with me, during the day time?" he asked.

Virgil's eyes widened, if his curse were truly broke then he'd be able to go out in the daylight! See the world for how it was meant to be!

"Y-Yes" He replied, his heart breathing fast and butterflies in his stomach. Virgil, now filled with an excitement and happiness he'd never felt before, took a deep breath before leaning up and initiating deep kiss upon Roman's lips while he suddenly had a rush of courage.

This took Roman by surprised but his hesitation lasted less than a second as he returned the kiss in earnest.

The two observing took this as a queue to leave silently, giving Roman and Virgil time alone once more.

Roman used the remaining hours of the morning explaining exactly what happened to Virgil, while the other sat and listened in pure shock and awe. Virgil had also theorised that his dying was the curse breaking -dying- and this took a toll on his physical form.

As the light outside began to illuminate the curtains and the clock-hand had firmly moved past the 6 o'clock marker Roman and Virgil looked at each other.

"I-It worked… I… I'm human…" Virgil spoke, looking at his hands, Roman smiled and tilted Virgil's chin up with his thumb an index finger to make the younger look at him.

"Of course it worked, it was true loves kiss, and that can break any curse" Virgil looked at Roman, the first man to accept him for his curse, the man to break his curse, and finally, the man who stole his heart.

"You truly are the beauty to my beast" Virgil spoke before allowing Roman to pull his face closer gently and engage in a passionate kiss. Roman snaked his arms around the others frail body and pulled him onto his lap. Virgil happily straddled Romans lap, his hand clutching his shirt as he hummed sweetly into the kiss.

He had never imagined it possible, but here he was, Virgil's prince.

His Happily Ever After


	11. Chapter 11

Today was the day; it had been 2 days since the curse had been broken. Though Roman wanted to take Virgil on a date the next day, Patton announced that they should all celebrate instead, leaving the Princely character having to wait 2 days before he could court Virgil on a romantic outing.

Roman stood in the living room, wearing a red and white button-up shirt with pale jeans and a leather jacket over his shoulders. He had wanted to look extra nice for his first date with Virgil and was currently pacing the living room nervously.

Logan was sat in his armchair doing a crossword "Roman, you're making me lose concentration with your constant pacing…" Logan spoke with an irritated tone.

"Well I'm sorry bookworm" Roman spoke with a sarcastic tone before bitting his thumbnail out of nerves "What's taking them so long… what if Virgil doesn't like what I have planned? What if I mess up? Or…"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Roman" Logan interrupted, placing down his crossword momentarily and sitting up more "Even if something goes 'wrong' Virgil's feelings toward you will not change, secondly, Patton is helping Virgil chose an outfit that is less… ummm…" Logan was trying to be gentle with his wording.

"Emo" Roman interjected with a chuckle, making Logan clear his throat and push his glasses up.

"Yes, that… " Logan then continued his crossword as he heard rushed footsteps come down the stairs.

"Come on Virgil~!" Patton called from the bottom of the staircase "You look great!" he grinned, catching both Logan and Roman's attention.

"But… Pat… I look weird…" Virgil's voice could be heard from the top of the stairs, his words earning a dramatic gasp from Patton.

"You do not! You look very handsome! Now come down here and show your prince how handsome you are!" Patton practically ordered, earning a huff from Virgil.

"Fine…"

Roman stood by the couch near Logan as he watched the stairs intensely; first he saw Virgil's shoes; wearing black high top converses. As Virgil got to the bottom of the stairs Patton clapped and looked at the other two to see what reactions his work of art had produced; he was highly pleased with the result.

Roman stood in awe as he gazed upon Virgil, the latter stood nervously at the bottom of the stairs and biting his lower lip, unable to make eye contact. He wore a grey button-up shirt and white ripped skinny jeans, the jeans held up by a leather belt with a 'my chemical romance' buckle. Complimenting his outfit was a fitted black waistcoat and some jewellery; namely a leather necklace with a silver cross and leather bracelets around his right wrist.

"Wow" is all Roman could say, this outfit was a far cry from the usual punk style the youngest usual carries, and he wears this outfit so well!

"S-Stop staring…" Virgil whined, getting uncomfortable with all the attention. Patton giggled before skipping over to Logan, and sitting on his lap.

"What do you think? I think this is my best piece of art yet!" he grinned, Logan nodded in agreement "I would have to agree"

Roman walked over to Virgil, looking him up and down before narrowing his eyes "Who are you? and what have you done with Virgil?" he teased.

Virgil raised a brow before punching Roman in the arm "If you don't like it then I'll happily change back?" he motioned with his thumb over his shoulder about to turn back up the stairs but Roman grabbed his hand "No, No, No~ I was just teasing" he chuckled "you look really handsome Virgil"

Virgil blushed at this before scratching the side of his face "T-Thanks… so do you Princey"

"Awww~ now get out of here kids! Before I push you out!" Patton spoke. Virgil and Roman blinked before laughing and nodding their heads.

"Alright we're off Pop star, thanks for helping me out" Virgil spoke, giving Patton a two fingered salute before taking Romans hand and dragging him to the front door.

Leaving Patton there with wide eyes and open mouth "D-Did he-… He just gave me a dad themed nickname~~~~" he squealed, causing Logan to chuckle.

Virgil stood at the front door nervously, the family had celebrated Virgil's curse being broken but he didn't have the courage to go outside in the daylight just yet, so this would be the first time…

Roman could see the younger shaking a bit out of nerves, he squeezed his hand before turning the door knob "It'll be alright Virge" he reassured before opening the door and leading him outside.

Virgil's eyes squinted as he stepped out in to the sunlight. Having been a panther most of his daytime life he'd never gone into the sun, so it took his eyes a moment to adjust. Roman waited patiently. Virgil then looked around and up to the blue sky where the sun sat shining down upon them "Wow" he muttered and turned his head to face Roman with a large smile "It hurts my eyes but… It's really pretty!" he grinned, wanting to see everything this world had to offer in the light of the sun; having only ever experienced the outside world in the dark, or moon light.

Roman smiled back at him before letting go of his hand "Wait! Hang on, stay here a moment, I'm gunna grab something before we leave."

Virgil blinked, waiting outside the house nervously, he looked around the area and saw people coming his way, instinctively he hid around the side of the steps that lead to the front door to hide from the by passers.

When Roman returned and shut the door behind him he frowned "Virgil?" he called out looking around. Virgil's head poked up from behind the side of the steps "Virgil? What are you doing?" Roman asked, walking down the stair as Virgil came out of hiding.

"O-Oh… well… there were people… so I…"

Roman blinked before laughing softly "You're so cute" This earned him a pinch on the arm and a pout "Ow! Okay okay, not cute haha but you're human now, you can be seen by others, you don't have to hide any more" Roman assured before holding up what he'd fetched from the house.

"Here, wear these, this way the sun light wont hurt your eye's as much" he offered the sunglasses to Virgil who then put them on. "O-Oh, thanks Ro" he smiled thankfully.

They then headed out, they first went to a café that wasn't too busy, Roman didn't want to overwhelm Virgil with crowds; knowing that this day wouldn't be as enjoyable to the other if he was constantly on edge.

"So what do you want to do after we finish our meal?" Roman asked, as much as he would love to plan a cheesy romantic outing, he had to remember that Virgil was new to crowds and people, he had to make sure Virgil would be comfortable.

Virgil sipped his strawberry milkshake before humming "I dunno, isn't that your job?" he smirked at the older. Roman rolled his eyes "Of course, but I was just wondering if you have any preferences" this made Virgil chuckle and offer Roman an appreciative expression.

"Well… I've never been to the beach-" he muttered in thought, but that is all it took.

"Beach it is then! Oh you will love it~! The sand, The sea, The horizon, The birds, oh! And the ice-cream! Mmmmm" Virgil blinked at Romans over expressive description of the beach, he had no idea there was so many variables the beach had to offer.

After they'd finished their meal, which Roman respectfully paid for, they walked though town and down to the beach. There were quite a few people around, causing Virgil to cling to Roman's arm, but the more they walked the more Virgil could see that people weren't judging him. On the contrary, they'd actually gotten a few compliments and friendly smiles.

"Are you okay?" Roman asked as they walked barefoot on the sand, hand in hand. Virgil was currently staring at the sand and taking in the feeling of it beneath their feet.

"I'm actually really great" Virgil admitted before looking up at the other "I've never been to the beach before, and the sand feels super good!~" he grinned. Roman smiled in response "I'm glad, I'm really happy that I could be the first person to share this with you, it makes me really happy"

Virgil blushed a little before noticing a bit of seaweed and a smirk slowly creeped on to his lips. "Hey Roman?"

"Yes?"

"Look over there!~ It's a weird looking bird!" Virgil pointed towards the horizon in a strong and successful effort to distract Roman. The latter looked to the horizon "Huh? Where? I don't see- Ahhhhh!" he suddenly screamed and ran in circles trying to remove what ever cold, slimy substance had been dropped down the back of his shirt. Meanwhile Virgil fell back on his rear, hugging himself in fits of laughter.

After Roman had chased Virgil down the entire length of the beach for his little prank, they both laid down on the white sand, panting heavily and laughing together. "Today has been the best day of my life" Virgil spoke with a deep breath, relaxing on his back, his hands aimlessly feeling the sand beneath him, while his eyes looked up to the dimming sky above.

Roman smiled and sat up when he heard this, looking out to the horizon as the sun was slowly setting. Virgil's gaze moved to Roman before sitting up himself and hugging the others arm, leaning against him gently; Virgil's looked out to the horizon and began watching the sunset and the slash of colours it left behind in the sky "Beautiful" he murmured.

Roman smiled softly before looking at Virgil studying his facial expression "couldn't agree more"

Virgil blushed at this, as he saw Roman was looking at him and not the sunset.

"Virgil"

"Yes?"

"May I kiss you?"

Virgil's blush deepened but he nodded his head, slowly Roman pushed Virgil down to lay on his back, Roman, hovering over the younger, then leaned down, closing his eyes as his lips brushed over Virgil's. The latter closed his eyes and returned the soft kiss, this moment was perfect, and he'd never felt happier.

Pulling back, Virgil hummed in content "Ro?"

"Yes Virge?"

"I love you"

"I love you too"

"I love you more"

"I love you most~"


End file.
